Different times bring about different styles in terms of most everything humans touch, be that modes of transportation, the clothing one wears, or the music and movies one enjoys watching. While popular at the time, and fun to look back at in retrospect, it's next to impossible to lift any such style from one era and hope that people of another will adopt it as readily as their predecessors.
Of course, movies can get away with some of that by simply locating the temporal setting back to the time when a particular moviemaking style was popular, although that obviously works best for light and/or comedic fare versus straight drama, horror, or such that would obviously consequently play as antiquated rather than cute.
Such was the case a few years back with "Down With Love" that tried to recapture the essence of the old Doris Day/Rock Hudson rom-coms of the 1950s. Fairly successful from a visual and artistic standpoint, it didn't light up the box office as intended. While the latter scenario will only be proven with time, I can happily say that "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" decently succeeds at capturing the spirit of screwball comedies of old.
Directed by Bharat Nalluri from David Magee and Simon Beaufoy's adaptation of Winifred Watson's novel, the film tells the story of a just-fired governess who finagles her way into the unfamiliar position of social secretary for a seemingly up and coming starlet in London. The latter is an American who, when not ambitiously positioning herself for her big break, is something of a ditz who needs help juggling her three lovers.
And the former governess, now homeless, penniless and quite hungry, steps up to help and succeeds thanks to quick instincts, moxie, and various misunderstandings on the parts of others. Besides a decently arranged and sometimes fairly witty script, what makes the film work and often be a delight to watch are the lead actresses in those two parts.
That would be industry veteran Frances McDormand and quickly rising star Amy Adams as the impromptu social secretary and ambitiously ditzy starlet respectively. With the film set on the brink of war in late '30s London, McDormand plays the frumpy anti-Mary Poppins role to a T. It's a funny part touched by pathos that needs just the right finesse to work, and the actress is more than game and fit to pull it off.
It's Adams, however, who's making a habit of stealing the limelight in any film in which she appears, and that's certainly the case here. Playing the starlet who flitters from one scene and lover to the next like a caffeinated hummingbird, the appealing actress takes what's really just a fluff part and makes it come alive with infectious vitality.
Those playing her three lovers -- Lee Pace, Tom Payne and Mark Strong -- are all fine in their parts, but it's Shirley Henderson (as a conniving fashionista) and especially Ciaran Hinds as her more introspective fiancé who shine in their supporting roles.
While the film changes tone a bit in the third act by touching on topics and themes concerning the pending war, past loss, and making correct and timely choices in one's life, for the most part it's about as fluffy and lightweight as a marshmallow.
That might not be particularly nutritious, could be too sweet and artificially constructed for some, and is pretty much instantly forgettable once consumed, but it's undeniably tasty on the way down. If that sounds appetizing, this throwback screwball comedy may just be your cup of cinematic tea. "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" rates as a 6 out of 10.
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