"Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," which might be a day too long

"Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" is based on a 1938 book by Winifred Watson. The movie rights were first sold to Universal in 1939 and the movie was released in 2008 so it only took 69 years for it to make its way to the screen. Usually its best for studios to really think about a project before starting production, but what can I say, sometimes they just get so excited about a film that it's full steam ahead. Talk about an impulse production...

"Miss Pettigrew" follows, well, Miss Pettigrew, played by Frances McDormand, through one day in which her circumstances are drastically changed. She evolves from a woman who can't keep a job as a nanny and gets her meals at soup kitchens to become the "social secretary" to actress Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams).

The story is interesting when looking at both the time the book was written and the time the movie was released in regards to its lead character. Miss Pettigrew herself is a middle-aged, not terribly attractive woman and yet the story revolves around her. For the film's part, there is Amy Adams to bump up the sex appeal, and yet the story is still set squarely on Pettigrew's shoulders, a rarity for films these days. That may explain how this film got lost when it was released in theaters. It's not a very marketable movie because it is not predominantly a romantic comedy or a period piece. It's more of a fairy tale. For adults. Well, for adult women. Try and sell that.

The film couldn't look more authentic to the 1930s if the crew actually went back to that time period in a time machine and shot it. Everything from the sets to the costumes to the actors seem to fit so naturally. There is no feeling of actors "acting" like they're from the 1930s; you just accept that they are from that time. The camera work also echoes that of films made in the actual period. The film succeeds at fully transporting you to the 1930s.

While the film may look and feel authentic, in the end, the story is not particularly interesting. Delysia is a playa who crushes a lot. She juggles men in order to further her cause of becoming a star and must eventually choose the one who really loves her. Yawn. I'm glad Miss Pettigrew got to live for a day; at least someone had a good time during this film.