MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY

Director: Bharat Nalluri

Stars: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee Pace, Ciaran Hinds, Shirley Henderson, Tom Payne

Year: 2008

Rating: PG-13

God love any director that pairs brilliance like Frances McDormand and Amy Adams together in the same film. McDormand's been a brilliant light in film since before Fargo, and Amy Adams ... well, let's just say it'll be a dark, dark day for the industry when she decides to retire. Both shine like beacons here, in a romantic comedy set in (barely) pre-World War II London.

McDormand plays Guinevere Pettigrew, a rather plain, conservative and very outspoken governess who's just been fired from her latest job by an employer so anxious to get her out, she even refuses to pay the poor, middle-aged woman her severance. Penniless and desperate for work, things don't get any better when Miss Pettigrew shows up at her agency, only to find out that she's had so many complaints lodged against her that her agency won't even send her out for work anymore. While there, however, Miss Pettigrew overhears of a job opportunity with a young American actress living in London ... and through her sheer desperation shows up at the starlet's home that very morning, pretending to be sent by her hiring agency.

What Miss Pettigrew doesn't count on is the young, beautiful, and tragically ditzy actress, Delysia (Amy Adams), who is now her employer. Delysia's first task for Miss Pettigrew is to get the naked young man - Phil, the son of a theater producer Delysia's trying to land a leading role from - out of her bed, before her boyfriend/benefactor Nick (Mark Strong) gets home. The luxury apartment Delysia lives in does, after all, belong to Nick - and as she can't seem to wake Phil, Delysia frantically implores Miss Pettigrew to help her.

The governess manages to pull it off, all the while shocked at the scandalous behavior of her new mistress - but before long it becomes apparent that Delysia has even a third young man named Michael (Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies", who's marvelous here) on her party line, as well. Michael is Delysia's accompanist; he plays piano for her when she sings in Nick's club, and is completely head over heels in love with Delysia; in fact, that very morning he announces that he has a new musical engagement aboard an ocean liner bound for New York - a job that starts the very next day, and in fact Michael's bought two one-way tickets so that Delysia may go with him so that the two of them can marry at last.

It's about all Miss Pettigrew can handle, and she tries to resign over the torrid love life of her newest employer ... but instead, she's drawn into a whirlwind of money, high fashion, and the politics of the theater, as the rest of the film details Miss Pettigrew's first day working for Delysia - a day, indeed, in which Miss Pettigrew learns to really live at last.

This film is such a throwback to old-school classic filmmaking of the 1930's; the story is funny and heartwarming, the characters larger than life yet people you can truly care about. Frances McDormand, in particular, is at the top of her game as Miss Pettigrew; she holds the film together, and even if you think you can see where it's all going, the ride is so, so worth it. Amy Adams and Lee Pace head a great supporting cast, in what is a genuine "feel-good" movie that will leave you with a smile on your face by the end; a genuine romantic comedy that's just as much a love story from the filmmakers to those who watch it. ***1/2 - Reel Cool-Reel Awesome