In its sole genuine heartfelt moment, the titular heroine of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day remarks of a group of young and pretty Londoners rushing out onto the balcony to watch the fighter planes flying overhead, “They don’t remember the last one.” Left widowed by the First World War and working as a governess for the wealthy, Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand with a put-upon “oh blimey!” accent) barely scrapes by on a pittance. Without a home or children of her own, Miss Pettigrew’s own Cinderella story (because it’s never too late!) begins after her latest mistress throws her out onto the street without notice — short that week’s wages.
Fibbing her way into the employ of Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams at her most annoying), Miss Pettigrew is instantly cast into the world of haute couture lingerie, extra-marital intrigue and her own fairy tale romance. Aside from the saving grace of boutique owner Edythe Dubarry (Shirley Henderson, one of the most interesting faces in current British cinema), the film’s cast, even the usually reliable McDormand, putter around the screen aimlessly. What could have come into its own as a pointed farce on Britain’s still-present class system (the gaps in which grow wider as time passes) instead turns into a Bridget Jones for the menopausal. Chin up, love. You may be fat, old or even homeless, but everything’s going to be just fine in jolly old wartime England.
Directed with ham fists by newcomer Bharat Nalluri and stripped of any trace of nuance or style, it comes as little surprise Nalluri’s previous big-screen credit was as second unit director on Alien vs. Predator. Even in its quietest moments, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is as subtle as a sledgehammer.
While she may have cornered the market on dumb but beautiful bumpkins, Adams may want a strong word or two with her agent. Playing dumb doesn’t translate into a long career, and after Junebug, it’s already getting a little old. Wherefore art thou Marisa Tomei? Mira Sorvino, we barely knew ye! With another Pettigrew or two under her belt, it won’t be long until Adams also finds herself near the top of “Where are they now?” lists. If this is all she’s got, I doubt anyone’s even going to ask.
