Check Out the Trailer
What’s so great about this 1940s set film is you think you know where its going and don’t mind, but when it surprises you you’re delighted.
Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence, WHO’S LINE IS IT ANYWAY?) is a flighty, but good-natured woman who is married to a penny-pinching banker named Mellersh (Alfred Molina, SPIDER-MAN 2). She sees an ad in the paper for an Italian villa to rent and convinces solemn Rose Arbuthnot (Miranda Richardson, SPIDER) to join her. Because the 30 pound each price tag is a bit too high for them, they advertise for two other women to join them. Answering the ad are Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright, AVALON), an elderly woman who is set in her ways and likes to drop the names of the many dead authors who were her friends, and Lady Caroline Dester (Polly Walker, EMMA), a wealthy heiress who wants to get away from the prying eyes and hands of the men in her life.
What Rose doesn’t know is that her husband Frederick (Jim Broadbent, IRIS) is one of the men Caroline is trying to get away from. And from their very first meeting the villa’s owner George Briggs (Michael Kitchen, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH) has eyes for Rose. You may think you know how the film will turn out, but trust me you don’t.
The film is a wonderful and heart-warming tale about second chances and the revitalizing power of a good vacation. The performances are great and the cinematography of Italy is… well… enchanting. Plowright got an Oscar nomination for this film and won a Golden Globe along with Richardson. The whole cast is wonderful. Lawrence plays dotty without making it seem like she’s playing dotty, which is impressive. This is the kind of film that makes you happy to be alive and really makes you want to go out and book your next vacation.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
