I don’t know why Amazon recommended this film to me, unless it’s that I’ve liked other films with Gwyneth Paltrow. However, the blurb sounded intriguing, and I put it on my wishlist. I was given it for Christmas a few weeks ago, and we watched it on Monday evening. I was surprised to learn afterwards that it's twenty years old; it didn't feel particularly dated at all.
I knew, from the description on the back of the DVD, that it was the story of a young woman called Helen who is shown in two parallel lives, depending on whether or not she makes a particular action. It’s just as well I knew this in advance or I might have been confused. It’s no spoiler to mention this, as the turning point happens quite early in the story.
Helen lives with her boyfriend Gerry. He is an aspiring writer, and she commutes to an office where she works to support them both. On the day when we meet them, she is given the sack so has to go home early. What she doesn’t know is that Gerry is having an affair…
As Helen rushes for the train, she just misses it. Then there’s a back-track when we see her getting to the platform just in time to catch it. From that point, there are two parallel stories. In the one where she catches the train, she sits next to a chatty young man called James (John Hannah) - and then, inevitably, walks in on Gerry with his other lover. When she misses the train, she gets involved in an accident so does not arrive home until her normal time - and is met instead with sympathy and affection.
As the film progresses, the two strands of Helen’s future diverge more and more. In one she gets a glamorous haircut which makes it much easier to remember which life we’re seeing. Sometimes the same basic scenario is shown from two different perspectives, depending on what Helen knows, and whether or not she is still living with Gerry.
There’s quite a bit of humour in the film, mostly from James. I kept wondering where I had seen his distinctive face before, and afterwards discovered that John Hannah was in the classic ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. James is a very likeable person, which makes it all the more shocking when Helen (in the first scenario) discovers something unexpected about him…
While the storyline itself is far-fetched, it’s a thought-provoking idea to show how a life can change so dramatically depending on such a small incident. I wondered how it was going to end, and thought it was managed very well indeed. Moreover, there’s a strong hint that some things are meant to be, and will happen eventually.
Some poignant moments, some great acting, and an ultimately satisfying film. Definitely recommended. The 15 rating (PG-13 in the US) is about right, in my opinion. There are ‘bedroom’ scenes which, while not explicit, are rather obvious, and there’s some bad language including some normally considered ‘strong’. It’s not the kind of film that would appeal to anyone under the age of about fifteen anyway.
Definitely recommended.
Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews
This film was recommended to me by Amazon. It was probably because I have previously enjoyed films with both Colin Firth and Julie Andrews, though not, I think, together. It was also recommended by some family members. So when I saw it inexpensively in a UK charity shop, it was not a difficult decision to buy it.
‘Relative Values’ is based on a play of the same name by Noel Coward, but we didn’t realise that until after we’d watched it. It was made in 2000 though set in the 1950s, based in the stately home of the Marshwood family. The young Earl, Nigel (Edward Atterson), has announced his engagement to an American actress called Miranda (Jeanne Triplehorn) who, until recently, was in a relationship with another movie star (William Baldwin).
His mother (Julie Andrews) is determined to be egalitarian and to accept a commoner, so long as she’s truly in love with Nigel. However she’s worn down by snide comments from friends, and is also disturbed by the increasing anxiety of her personal maid Moxie (Sophie Thompson)....
It’s rather an all-star cast; Stephen Fry is typecast as the butler Crestwell who has to hold together a fluttery star-struck set of housemaids, while attempting to calm down Moxie who feels that she has no choice but to leave. Colin Firth is brilliant, too, as Nigel’s cousin Peter, who keeps his aunt company and provides some wonderfully satirical asides. I was perhaps a little disappointed in Julie Andrews, whose character seemed to be almost identical to the Queen of Genovia in ‘The Princess Diaries’, but she played it admirably.
However, we thought that the most amusing and versatile character was Moxie, who has an unexpected secret, and is then expected to act a part for which she is totally unsuited. I didn’t realise that Emma Thompson had a sister who was also an actress; I shall look out for more with Sophie Thompson in future, as she was excellent in this role. She was transformed into an extremely dowdy maid for most of the film, but also manages to appear as a twittery and very nervous family friend, putting on an upper-class accent and wearing unaccustomed finery.
While we didn’t find it ‘outstandingly funny’, as the front of the DVD describes this, there are some amusing moments, and one brief scene - an American/British language difference, where Colin Firth puts Julie Andrews right - which was delivered with such perfect timing that we laughed out loud and kept chuckling for a while afterwards.
The whole thing is caricatured, of course, as is typical for plays of this era, with a deeper theme exploring the prejudices that were - and maybe still are - held against foreigners and commoners, by even the most enlightened of the upper classes.
Rated PG, it’s free of bad language and anything ‘adult’, although - for those who are concerned about such things - there are plenty of scenes of drinking, including some rather tipsy behaviour, and some cigarettes. However, I don't think it's the kind of film that is likely to appeal to anyone under the age of about 14 or 15 in any case.
Definitely recommended as a light-hearted and amusing satirical film.
Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews
