Maid in Manhattan (Jennifer Lopez)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted to watch something light, not too deep and not too long. We hadn’t seen ‘Maid in Manhattan’ since 2011, shortly after we acquired it, and although we had entirely forgotten the storyline, it looked as though it would meet our requirements.

The main character in this film is Marisa (Jennifer Lopez) who works as a maid at a hotel in Manhattan. She is a single mother raising her son Ty, who must be about eight or nine. His father is notoriously unreliable, regularly promising to do things with him and then letting him down at the last minute. Ty is a likeable boy, very realistically played by Tyler Posey but quite lacking in self-confidence. We see him, early in the film, forgetting a speech he has been working on, as he becomes nervous.

Marisa works hard and conscientiously, and is very good at her job. So when a position comes up in management, her colleagues think she should apply. She’s not at all sure, and is distracted by one of her friends persuading her to try on an extremely expensive outfit belonging to a wealthy socialite called Caroline who is staying at the hotel.

We had remembered this scene, and some of the story started to come back to us as Marisa is mistaken for the wealthy lady in question, after Ty meets another guest - a guy called Chris Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) who is hoping to become a senator. Chris has a large and friendly dog, and Ty loves dogs. The two form a surprising bond, and Chris then sees Marisa dressed up and persuades her to go out for a walk…

In a nutshell, it’s a predictable rom-com, with a strong Cinderella theme. But there are a great many stumbling blocks in the romance, with Caroline (Natasha Richardson) playing the part of a pushy, arrogant ‘ugly sister’. There are some one-liners that made us smile, and some quite poignant scenes too, particularly one where Chris takes the time to help Ty understand how he too becomes nervous when he makes speeches.

But it’s extremely well done, with a good pace, and some excellent supporting cast including Stanley Tucci as Chris’s harassed press officer and Bob Hoskins as the hotel butler. There's good chemistry between the two main characters, and the scenes involving Ty are delightful. There are some thought-provoking comments about how hotel staff can seem invisible, and are sometimes considered inferior to wealthy socialites, but it's not done in a heavy way.

All in all, it was the perfect film for our requirements, and we enjoyed it very much.

Although apparently it was previously rated 12 in the UK, it’s now PG, which seems about right. There’s minor bad language and hints of nudity, but nothing explicit. However I can’t imagine it would be of any interest to anyone under the age of about fourteen or fifteen. In the US it’s rated PG-13.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Mrs Henderson Presents (Judi Dench)

(Amazon UK link)

Judi Dench is one of my favourite actresses, and Amazon regularly recommend her films to me. One of these was ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’, so I put it on my wishlist, and was given it for my birthday six months ago. We decided to watch it last night, with little idea what it was about other than - as was evident from the front cover - something to do with show business.

The DVD claims to be a ‘deliciously charming comedy’. But we’ve learned from experience that films labelled in this way tend to be dramas. They might have some amusing moments, but just as much that is poignant or even tragic. That’s certainly the case for ‘Mrs Henderson Presents, which is set in wartime London and is based on a true story.

Judi Dench plays the title role, as Laura Henderson, a recently-widowed society woman with a great deal of wealth. She really has little idea what she’s going to do, now she no longer has a role as wife. So her friend Margot suggests some nice activities for elderly widows. Some light and amusing scenes follow, as Laura tries various clubs or hobbies. She then decides to follow her friend’s final suggestion - to buy things. But instead of purchasing clothes or jewellery, she buys a run-down theatre.

Mr Van Damm (Bob Hoskins) is proposed as her new manager, once the Windmill Theatre is ready to be used. Their working relationship begins in a stormy way, but he is hired anyway, as Laura wants someone who is willing to stand up for what he believes to be right. She wants to run musical theatre reviews; he suggests a suitable name, and also running continually through the day, rather than just a matinee and evening performance, as run by other theatres.

This is a success at first, but other theatres decide to copy… and when Van Damm is concerned about closure, with dwindling audiences and low takings, Laura comes up with a radical, shocking idea…

A fair amount of the action takes place on stage or in the theatre itself. Inevitably, set in the 1940s, there’s a wartime background to the story, with inevitable disasters and some tragedies. There are some black-and-white scenes of air raids and the destruction of buildings. I found myself caught up in the story, understanding something of what it might have been like to live through the war as someone working in a theatre, in a way I hadn’t really thought about before.

The acting is excellent, the sparks between Van Damm and Laura Henderson feel real, and the pace is just right. I had not previously heard of The Windmill or the people involved, but I’m not likely to forget them in the future.

Definitely recommended. It’s rated 12A in the UK, which slightly surprised me as there’s a fair amount of nudity, albeit in the context of art. However there’s only one instance of ‘strong’ language, and the only violence is that shown in the historical context, with nothing close up or gory. The stricter US rating is R. I would personally have suggested 15 as a suitable rating, but doubt if anyone under the age of about 18 would be interested in the content.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews