Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Peter McGinn: I don’t know if I would have been quite so anxious to see this movie, or if I would have liked it as much, if Lesley Manville was not playing Mrs. Harris, but fortunately she was. An unlikely confluence of events happen to and around Mrs. Harris that seem to add up to an unlikely scenario of her saving money to buy the Dior dress, such as her winning the football pools (lottery). But science fiction and superhero movies would not exist if we all insisted upon realistic stories, so I had no issue suspending my disbelief. It is a sweet film, and sometimes I need one of those to offset the dramas and hard-luck characters in many movies (those “realistic” plots). It features a fine ensemble cast, most of whom I didn’t recognize from other British productions but who did well. So I am sure I will watch the movie again someday. I have to laugh looking at a few 1-star reviews on another website. Just for kicks I checked the other reviews by those angry viewers (I mean 1-star instead of say, 4 stars? Really?). One of them only had 1-star reviews, about 30 of them, which makes me question whether they even wtatched them, and another didn’t watch a single other movie that I have seen, so I guess there is a reason they disagree with me so strongly. But I am sure you are not so judgmental, so give it a try.

CinemaSerf: Lesley Manville is clearly having some good fun playing the eponymous, widowed, wartime cleaner. One of her clients, "Lady Dant" (Anna Chancellor) is not so hot when it comes to settling her bills, but she does have a Dior dress - and at £500 this is a dream for "Mrs. Harris". Determined to have one for herself, she works extra hard, saves her pension - even has a flutter on the dogs before arriving at the Salon Dior armed with rolled up ten shilling notes. The slightly snobbish staff want little to do with her, but fortunately the debonaire "Marquis de Chassagne" (Lambert Wilson) agrees to take her in to the show as his guest, and finance fellow "André" points out to the rather snooty manager "Claudine" (Isabelle Huppert) that the cash is not to be sniffed at... What now ensues are some fun escapades as she manages to acquire a dream frock, but has to linger in Paris whilst it is made-to-measure for her. This exposes her to the benign charms of the Marquis and also sees her make new friends and have some once-in-a-lifetime experiences. It's flighty and fun, peppered with a good dose of British fair-play and pragmatism, and features a script that is delivered effortlessly by a cast that all combine well on screen. The ending is a touch contrived, but this is a feel-good film that does warm the cockles of your heart a bit and illustrates the birth of large scale high street couture.