A One Mann’s Movies review of “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris” (2022).
“Mrs Harris Goes to Paris” is based on the Mrs Harris (or more accurately, Mrs ‘Arris) books of Paul Gallico, first published in 1958. (There’s a series of four books, so opportunities for sequels!). Now Paul Gallico I immediately recognised as the novellist who wrote the book that inspired my favourite disaster movie – “The Poseidon Adventure”. What a different genre this is!
Virtually all of the reviews I’ve skimmed of this movie have either used the phrase “delightful” or “feelgood”… or both! And this one will be no exception!
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
It’s London in 1957. Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) is a cleaner for some of the better-off residents of Battersea. It’s work that she shares with her best friend Violet Butterfield (Ellen Thomas). Although of lowly means, she dreams of owning her own Christian Dior dress. She decides to try to find the money to chase her dream.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Lesley Manville, Ellen Thomas, Isabelle Huppert, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Rose Williams, Jason Isaacs, Lambert Wilson.
Directed by: Anthony Fabian.
Written by: Carroll Cartwright and Anthony Fabian. Based on the novel by Paul Gallico.
Twitter Handles: #MrsHarrisMovie.
“Mrs Harris Goes to Paris” Review:
Positives:
- The other week I was waxing lyrical about Viola Davis as an actress and how she could morph from “Ma Rainey” to Nanisca in “The Woman King“. I can do the same here for Lesley Manville, who I last saw as the terrifying hillbilly matriarch Blanche Weboy in “Let Him Go“. Here she is the epitome of charm, skillfully displaying in her eyes the rollercoaster ups and downs of Ada’s triumphs and crashing failures. It’s another brilliant performance.
- The same can be said for the ensemble cast who all do a great job. The ever-reliable Jason Isaacs is charming as the Irish bookmaker Archie; Isabelle Huppert manages to make the boo-hiss villain role of M. Colbert human (in a well-judged home scene); Lucas Bravo* – looking for all the world like a slightly younger Matthew Goode – makes a positive impression as the Dior accountant André Fauvel; Ellen Thomas and Rose Williams add some comic relief (the movie passes the ‘6 laughs’ test); and the stunningly beautiful Alba Baptista immediately sets herself up for the Audrey Hepburn role in any upcoming remake of “Breakfast at Tiffany”! As a great ensemble cast, this is a movie I’d personally put forward for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award.
- (* Lucas Bravo is having a busy month: he is also Julia Robert’s French pilot squeeze in “Ticket to Paradise“).
- The movie has a lovely sense of ‘place’, particularly I thought for the London scenes where the production design is fabulous. It has the London smog (all four Battersea Power Station chimneys are belching smoke!) and the dregs of life after the war, with Spam on the table and dreams of winning the pools. But on the flip side, the well-off houses have fledgling signs of the swinging sixties being just around the corner reflected in their decor and furniture.
Negatives
- I didn’t think that the love-interest sub-plot involving Ada and Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson) quite worked within the framework of the film. It perhaps needed to be developed a bit more.
- I want to meet the florist who can get that bunch of roses in full-bloom to London like that!
Summary Thoughts on “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris”:
The trailer indicates that this will be a nice gentle and linear film. But it’s actually a much bumpier ride than that, as the story switchbacks through Ada’s highs and lows. But it’s a ride that’s great fun to be on. I predict that this will be a big hit with ‘silver-screeners’. But it is also a “Cinderella” story that I think you could take all the family to without much complaint.
Very much recommended.
Trailer for “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9JcPbbmAA .
