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Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Director: Bharat Nalluri
Actors: Amy Adams, David Alexander, Clare Clifford, Christina Cole, Stephanie Cole
Studio: NBC Universal
Category: Movie

Buy New: $3.99

Rating:

62 reviews
Sales Rank: 121

Genre: Comedy - Romantic
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 93 Minutes

ASIN: B001G7HKZ4

Theatrical Release Date: January 1, 2008
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Synopsis:

War threatens London as Miss Pettigrew, a destitute governess, filches a client's card from her agency and presents herself at the door. A singer named Delysia Lafosse wants a social secretary as she seeks a West End role by sleeping with a feckless producer in the bed of Nick, a smarmy nightclub owner with whom she also dallies. She ignores Michael, her piano player, who loves her and has tickets for New York on the Queen Mary. Miss Pettigrew's job is to make sure Delysia gets the part. Over 24 hours, Miss Pettigrew is also called upon to help an ambitious and unfaithful fashion editor patch things up with her older fianc??, a lingerie designer. Has Miss Pettigrew found her calling?

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Customer Reviews: Read 57 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

One day leads to others... September 29, 2008
Judy K. Polhemus (LA)
36 out of 37 found this review helpful

Amy Adams. Angelina Joli. Sarah Jessica Parker. Frances McDormand. Odd, huh? Three younger beauties who can act. One maturing woman, not-so-beautiful, can stand equally with them. Star power? Inner beauty? Confidence? Frances McDormand has It which others can see.

"Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" is a fine vehicle for our Frances. She plays the low-key Miss Pettigrew, freshly out of a job, desperate for a new one in pre-war London, as she has no apartment and no possessions other than what she has on her person. Why can't she keep a job? Because she is painfully truthful!

Through a fluke she acquires the address of a rich, young American singer and inquires within. What this American needs is a therapist/parent. What she gets is Miss Pettigrew, a magical godmother in the guise of "social secretary." You see, Delysia McFosse is morally confused in her quest to be a stage and screen star. She currently is sleeping with three men: one for an apartment and unlimited funds, one for a movie role, and one for fun. The plot suggests that Delysia loves this third one. He definitely loves her!

Circling this bankrupt moral code in a bankrupt time of war is Miss Pettigrew. One follows the code. This is a rule for both society at large and individuals up close. By movie's end Miss Pettigrew has touched and impacted behavioral changes both refreshing and dynamic. Not only does she point Delysia in the right direction, she unexpectedly and inadvertently shows Delysia's cold-hearted, man-eating friend for the scoundrel she is.

In impacting behavior around her, the starving Miss Pettigrew finds herself in dire circumstances once again. Instead of being a fairy godmother, Miss Pettigrew needs someone to watch over her. Someone does come and fulfills her dreams. All's fair in love and war. This is love and it is very fair!! Indeed, in living for a day, Miss Pettegrew will live the rest of her life.

What a charming and delightful movie! Highly recommended!

5 out of 5 stars

A Day Worth Viewing August 23, 2008
Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is the governess of last resort. No, that doesn't mean she turns naughty children around. In fact, she doesn't seem to be able to keep a job. Fired from her last job, she literally has nothing. And her employment agency is tired of trying to find her jobs. After all, jobs are scarce in 1930's London. Desperate, Miss Pettigrew takes the address of a client, a Delysia Lafoose (Amy Adams).

When Miss Pettigrew arrives at the address, she finds Delysia in crisis. While saving the day, Miss Pettigrew learns that Delysia isn't looking for a governess but a social secretary because they are fashionable.

And Delysia definitely needs help sorting out her life. She's a singer who wants to become an actress. But she's having huge man problems. Specifically, there are three men in her life. There's Phil (Tom Payne), who she has slept with to gain the lead in the play he is producing. There's Nick (Mark Strong), who owns the nightclub where Delysia sings every night as well as the apartment where Delysia lives. Then there's Michael (Lee Pace), a piano player who has proposed to Delysia and has spent the last year in prison waiting for an answer.

Miss Pettigrew is definitely out of her element, but she seems to be helping Delysia juggle everything. Can she keep up and guide Delysia at the same time?

Yes, this movie is a predictable romantic comedy. But the ride is quite enjoyable. The first half is almost farcical in tone with many laugh out loud moments. The second half becomes more serious with fewer laughs but many very touching moments. But by that point you are so invested in everyone's lives you have to stay and see how it turns out.

The acting holds things together perfectly with the entire cast balancing the comedy and emotion. But I've got to praise the two leads. Frances McDormand's facial expressions provide some of the best laughs in the first half. And Amy Adams keeps Delysia from being a mindless fluffy character. Instead, we truly care about her from her very first scene.

While this is a mindless comedy, I think its appeal will skew slightly older. Even with the partial nudity and double meanings, this movie will appeal most to adults and less to the teen and early twenty crowd.

I found this romantic comedy fun and charming and think that any adult will feel the same way.

5 out of 5 stars

Two Amazing Actresses Create a Fine Movie April 9, 2008
D. Bell (Olney, MD USA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I was absolutely bowled over by the performances of Frances McDormand & Amy Adams in this movie. Naturally I expect nothing but the best of Ms. McDormand, who won a well-deserved Oscar as the pregnant policewoman (with fantastic accent) in Fargo. And she never disappoints. Her metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly was wonderful to see.

Amy Adams played a very difficult role. It would have been easy for Delycia to seem slutty &/or scheming, but somehow in Ms. Adams' capable hands she was loveable and even a little innocent. I found her charming, and her singing voice is lovely.

The storyline held my interest throughout, and I loved the happy ending for both women. I must admit that I was glad Delycia and Michael got out of London before the blitz.

At the end of the movie, my husband surreptitiously wiped a tear from his eye. That from him is high praise. Well done, one and all!

5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining Movie September 27, 2008
Swati S. Desai (Washington, DC)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I rented this movie off Amazon Video on Demand. I'd never heard of it before, and since it has no reviews, I thought I'd add my two cents about this film.

This is a good movie, pretty entertaining. The story takes place in England just prior to the outbreak of World War II. The plot centers around a woman named Ms. Pettigrew, a vicar's daughter, who gets fired as a governess and is unable to find work. She goes to a woman at her employment agency, who tells Ms. Pettigrew that she is unreliable and these are tough times, so there is no work for her.

While she is at the employment agency, she overhears agency employees speaking about a position for a woman whose calling card was left on an employee's desk - Delysia Lafosse. Ms. Pettigrew steals the calling card and goes to Ms. Lafosse's house, pretending that she is the employee the agency sent over.

That is where the story really begins: the vicar's daughter Ms. Pettigrew has some issues at the less-than-virtuous lifestyle of the woman, but cannot leave because she has no options left.

Says Ms. Pettigrew in the film, "A little desperation has made me a smoking, swearing accomplice to misdeeds in a den of iniquity!"

The story is amusing and entertaining in a quiet British way and would be a good rental. I don't believe the story is interesting enough to warrant purchasing this movie, you will likely never watch it or think about it ever again. But it is an amusing enough way to spend an afternoon.

5 out of 5 stars

The Most Charming Film of the Year June 25, 2008
evensong
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I went to see this movie with my two teenaged daughters and we, as well as the entire movie audience, were completely charmed. This movie has it all, romance, wit and style mixed with just a hint of pathos to lend it substance.
It was the first time in years (decades actually)that I have been in a movie theater and audience broke into spontaneous applause at the end of the movie. I think it was a testament to the excellent performances of Adams and McDermitt, and the all around excellent film making.
This is my new feel-good movie.