ADAPTED from Winifred Watson's recently rediscovered 1938 novel about a prim English governess who changes the course of her life in a single day, this frothy film gets by on the exuberance of its stellar cast and its meticulous period design. It's s
et in London in the run-up to the Second World War, with Frances McDormand as the titular domestic servant whose wilfulness has made her unemployable. Desperate for a job after spending an anxious evening homeless and hungry, she blags her way into a position as "social secretary" to Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a starlet juggling several men in her bid for West End success. The two women bond immediately: the former finding her true calling as she's thrown into high society, the latter maturing immeasurably in response to Pettigrew's Mary Poppins-style good sense. Here Adams builds on her irresistible turn in last year's Disney hit Enchanted, but it's McDormand's film, and watching her subtly transform Miss Pettigrew – especially as romance begins to blossom with Ciaran Hinds's wealthy but unhappy clothes designer – makes this a pleasant way to spend a rainy summer afternoon.
The full article contains 212 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
