ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

GIVEN THE grim state of everything from the economy to the weather, it’s easy to understand why we all need cheering up. Mamma Mia! has been a massive Summer hit because it is guaranteed to raise your spirits. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day achieves a similar feat with an old-fashioned Cinderella story of second chances and happy endings.

Winifred Watson’s elegant little novel has been delighting readers for almost seventy years. The film adaptation does her proud, combining the champagne fizz of a P.G. Wodehouse romp with the effortless elegance of a Fred Astaire musical.

Oscar-winner Frances McDormand stars as dowdy, down-at-heel governess Miss Guinevere Pettigrew, a woman convinced that life and love have passed her by.

One day in 1939, she applies for a job with glamorous West End star Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams from Enchanted) and is soon caught up in the giddy excitement of an unfamiliar world marked by breathtaking romantic encounters, glittering parties and desperate dilemmas.

Miss Pettigrew surprises herself as she rises to the occasion with a quick wit , decisive action and an unwavering sense of right and wrong.

The film may flag a little but in places but generally it sparkles and makes the most of a cast that includes Shirley Henderson as poisonous haute couture monster Edythe, Lee (Pushing Daisies) Pace as penniless pianist Michael, and Cairin Hinds as lingerie designer Joe, a man who sees Miss Pettigrew for the radiant woman she really is.

This is the kind of fairytale escapism made to encourage your belief that the world isn’t such a bad place after all.

Nationwide release

Director: Bharat Nalluri
Cast: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee Pace, Ciaran Hinds, Shirley Henderson, Mark Strong
Screenwriters: David Magee and Simon Beaufoy based on the novel by WInifred Watson
Certificate: PG
Running time: 92 mins
Country: USA/UK
Year: 2007