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There's plenty more, all following a general rule that the visuals are ravishing (pastries! hats! burnished-gold walls!) and the characters are boring. (An exception can be made for tiny, dark-haired, hard-edged Shirley Henderson as Edythe Dubarry, who, though tense and scheming, employs a voice like Alvin the Chipmunk). It's delightful that Miss Pettigrew finds love too, but this plot development arrives with so little support—we may love her, but he barely knows her—that it feels like we're in Toon Town again.

There's one recurring bit in Miss Pettigrew's story that's well used: she's hungry. Over and over during the chaotic day she almost gets a chance to eat something, then is foiled again. But there comes a moment when Delysia and Edythe are treating her to a spa makeover, and Miss Pettigrew is reclining in a white facial masque with cucumber slices over her eyes. When she's alone she lifts the cucumbers, glances left and right, and then slips them into her mouth. As she chews, she develops a radiant smile. It's a delicious moment, and I wish Miss Pettigrew had had more of them.

>Talk About It

1. Miss Pettigrew says she is a clergyman's daughter, and she appears to find Delysia's promiscuity unsavory. Should she have refused to work for her?
2. Joe and Miss Pettigrew observe that the young people are excited at the thought that there will be a war: "They don't remember the last one." Why would war seem thrilling to young people? What do you think Joe and Miss Pettigrew feel about the prospect?
3. Delysia confesses that she is really "Sarah Grubb, of the Pittsburgh Grubbs; my father was a steelworker." Lineage and class used to mean much more than they do now; we have evolved into a meritocracy, where people can get ahead based on talent and hard work, regardless of bloodline. Is this system fairer? What are its flaws or disadvantages?

The Family Corner

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is rated PG-13 for some partial nudity and innuendo. There is rear male nudity, and Amy Adams appears in small amounts of drapery. There is a lingerie fashion show. No bad language, but lots of double-entendres in a context of accepted premarital sex.

Photos © Copyright Keylight Entertainment

© Frederica Mathewes-Green subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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