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MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY
Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Produced by Nellie Bellflower & Stephen Garrett
Written by David Magee & Simonn Beaufoy, based on the novel by Winifred Watson
Director of Photography, John de Borman
Edited by Barney Pilling
Music by Paul Englishby
Released by Focus Features
UK/USA. 92 min. Rated PG-13
With Amy Adams, Shirley Henderson, Ciarán Hinds, Frances McDormand, Lee Pace, Tom Payne & Mark Strong

Marilyn’s back. No, not as a nude Lindsay Lohan, heavily made-up, posing as the star in her last sitting for New York Magazine, but as a breathy and saucer-eyed Amy Adams, like the girlish Monroe of Bus Stop, laying siege to 1939 London nightlife.

As the preposterously named American starlet Delysia (perhaps short for delirium) Lafosse, Adams bounces about her gangster boyfriend’s art deco duplex pleading with the raggedy-dressed Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) to help her hide the evidence of the previous evening’s assignation with a West End producer, who’s still lounging in bed. Her hot-tempered rival will be arriving at any moment.

When Miss Pettigrew first arrives at her doorstep, Delysia presumes the woman is her private secretary the employment agency has sent; gate-crasher Miss Pettigrew, out of work and starving, willingly goes along with the masquerade. As a vicar’s daughter, the middle-aged spinster is shocked by the antics within this den of iniquity, but within 15 minutes, she sees her first naked man, curses (“damn” and “hell” – it’s rated PG-13), and smokes a cigar. Flitting about a mile a minute, the befuddled little-girl-lost has three rigidly laid-out choices before her: sleep her way to stardom, remain a kept woman, or marry the penniless pianist/ex-con who truly loves her. (The charming Mark Strong, as bad-guy Nick, steals all his scenes, as he did in Stardust, making Delysia’s choice more difficult. There are worse ways to get a beautiful apartment.)

Rather too soon, Miss Pettigrew is a pushover, easily won over by Delysia’s dilemma. It would have been far more interesting to see her as a stick in the mud; we never see why her obstinacy has gotten her fired, unfairly, as she claims. However, Adams is believable both as a starlet on her last legs and as the wholesome ingénue. Delysia’s vulnerability accounts for her most appealing trait, but Adams has been tiresomely directed to act as vivacious as possible – a human hurricane, all frantic movement. The film substitutes speed for camaraderie and cleverness. Given that the audience will know exactly what will happen (spoiler! Miss Pettigrew has a make-over and finds a soul mate), there’s nothing else for the viewer to fall back on, even with the glamorous period production design, which recalls another lightweight and forgettable romp, Mrs. Henderson Presents. And you won’t even feel particularly clever mouthing the dialogue before the actors do. Kent Turner
March 7, 2008