The beautiful and glittering lives of the rich and famous always entrance those who live with fewer diamonds. In the new movie "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," there are enough diamonds, furs, and caterers to make anyone long for the lap of luxury.
The real gold in this movie, however, lies beneath the sparkling surface, revealing a much simpler, but still sweet, story about seizing the day and making the right decisions.
Guinevere Pettigrew?played by Frances McDormand?is a governess who is repeatedly fired for her high moral standards. Miss Pettigrew grew up under the thumb of a father who was a minister and refuses to swallow the indiscretions of her employees to keep her job.
Determined not to join the city's poor and homeless, Miss Pettigrew takes initiative. She fills a job not meant for her as a social secretary to the young, flighty, and aspiring actress, Delysia Lafosse.
Ms. Lafosse?played by "Enchanted's" Amy Adams?is a delightful (but somewhat naïve) coquette who uses all her wiles to get the parts she wants. From the moment that Miss Pettigrew enters Delysia's apartment, she finds herself swept up into the immorality and high-society life that Delysia lives as she tries to keep three men from finding out about each other.
Caught up between her own desires and those of the three men that she's trying to use to advance her own career, Delysia has started to lose her way. She begs the shocked, uptight Miss Pettigrew to help her navigate her love life. Miss Pettigrew is left with no choice but to help Delysia.
There's the devilish, rich, and controlling Nick (Mark Strong) who owns the night club in which Delysia sings and also the apartment in which Delysia lives; the young, rich heir, Phil (Tom Payne), who is the son of a director and casting the play in which Delysia wants the lead; and finally, Michael (Lee Pace), the handsome piano player who accompanies Delysia, and the only one who really has her heart.
The story is set against the depressing and dreary backdrop of England on the brink of war with Germany. However, even with warplanes roaring above head, the irrepressible Delysia and her young, rich, and hopeful friends do not take more than a moment to look up from their martinis and fashion shows to see the changes around them.
Only Miss Pettigrew and Joe, the kindly fashion designer who recognizes Miss Pettigrew as a kindred spirit, understand the gravity of these warplanes. It isn't until the end when Delysia asks Ms. Pettigrew, "We're really going to war, aren't we?" that one knows that she has finally grown up enough to understand the world beyond her own self-centered sphere.
While some of the characters in the movie might not be totally endearing, the movie overall has such a feel-good tone that you can't help loving it. Adams is at times a little too na?ve and self-obsessed, but it only stresses her contrast to Miss Pettigrew. Perhaps the most aggravating character is Phil; so narcissistic and gullible that he cannot help but annoy.
"Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" may not be an Oscar-worthy film, but its sweet, simple, and all around lovely. Guinevere Pettigrew may not have the advantages of youth and beauty, but she has sparkle.