By Sara Pintilie/entertainment editor
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (4 stars)
Amy Adams’ performance in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day proves why she is Hollywood’s new silver screen darling.
The film is a delightful treat with great performances from Adams, Frances McDormand and Lee Pace.
Guinevere Pettigrew (McDormand) has been fired yet again as a nanny in 1930s England.
She gets desperate when nobody will hire her, so she intercepts an offer from Delysia LaFosse (Adams).
Pettigrew thinks the new job is a nanny gig, but when she arrives at LaFosse’s apartment, she is swept up into the frantic lifestyle of the nightclub singer as her new social secretary.
LaFosse takes Pettigrew shopping and to a fashion show, where Pettigrew meets fashion designer Joe Blumfield (Ciaran Hinds).
For the duration of the day the two spend together, Lafosse juggles her three men—Phil (Tom Payne), a West End director; Nick (Mark Stong), a nightclub owner, and Michael (Lee Pace), a love-sick pianist, but Michael finally gets fed up. He gives her an ultimatum and the rest of the day for a decision.
Pettigrew helps LaFosse figure out what she truly wants, and Pettigrew learns something about what she desires.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a sweet story with a bit of screwball comedy thrown in the mix.
The women are fantastic together. McDormand’s uptight Pettigrew anchors the flighty socialite demeanor of Adams, smoothly balancing each other.
The audience is never bored.
Pace isn’t yet a household name, but will be in a couple of years. He handles his own against the women with ease and makes the audience forget about LaFosse’s other two flings.
The only flaw is the length of the movie—it is too short. Viewers want to know more about these characters they have come to love and feel a bit slighted.
Everything seems a bit rushed in the movie, but not enough to lose sight of the film’s charming qualities.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a cute film, worthy of seeing.
