Miss Pettigrew - A Movie Review

Dianne here. If you want a nice outing at the movies, go see Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It stars Academy Award winner Frances McDormand and Academy Award nominee Amy Adams along with a great cast of men. I particularly love the actor who played Michael and would have… well, I won’t give away the ending of the movie. Although that is easy enough to predict while watching it, mainly because we know it will be a happy ending. It is that type of movie. It isn’t meant to surprise us, or shock us, or bedazzle us. It is simply meant to entertain us and make us feel good.

However, in our current time of war, on the 5th anniversary of George Bush taking us into Iraq, Miss Pettigrew does have a message: war wrecks people’s live. The setting of 1939 England just prior to that country’s involvement in World War II reminds us just how precious life and love are, that every moment counts and we shouldn’t waste time playing games or going after things that won’t fulfill us. The fact that both Frances McDormand’s character, a down and out governess suddenly turned social secretary, and Amy Adams’ character, both learn this in a period of 24 hours does not mean it isn’t true. Many lessons in life happen overnight, like success - they just have a lot of suffering and years of experience behind them.

Oh, how I wish more people would learn their lessons. Oh, how I wish more movies were this well-written, well-acted, and well… thought-provoking without being depressing.