Opening Day: 6 April 2006


Synopsis :


Walter Goodfellow, the vicar for the small English country parish of Little Wallop, has allowed his marriage to Gloria go stale and he is so detached from his family that he has not taken notice that his 17-year-old daughter Holly is going through a succession of inappropriate relationships with unsuitable boyfriends and his son Petey fears going to school due to being bullied. Out of desperation for affection, Gloria begins to fall for the advances of Lance, the American golf pro that is giving her "private" lessons. The problems upsetting the family start to fade away after Grace Hawkins, the new housekeeper, arrives and starts tending to matters as an older, and rather darkly mysterious version of Mary Poppins.

Movie Review:

Director Niall Johnson brings us this black comedy done with an old English tradition of innuendo and subtle dark humor mixed together about what would happen if Marry Poppins had been a woman who was seriously short of a few screws.

Rowan Atkinson plays Walter Goodfellow, a boring, mild mannered vicar who neglects to see the things that are going on with his family. Kristen Scott Thomas (Gosford Park) plays Gloria, the frustrated housewife who finds herself succumbing to the advances of her sleazy American golf coach (Patrick Swayze). Then there are the kids. His daughter has a never-ending string of promiscuous relationships since reaching legal age, and his son is in constant fear of getting bullied in school.

Just when it seems that things might be at the verge of falling apart, in comes Grace Hawkins (Maggie Smith), the new housekeeper to help things out in the family. Slowly she transforms each family member for the better, albeit these improvements are done at the expense of several other parties.

Though entertaining, the plot is hardly believable in how easily the deaths of several people are overlooked, and the subject of Death itself is handled in a casual and light-hearted way. So it is likely that some viewers will feel disturbed at how murder is played out here. However, what is more disturbing is how the writers have chosen to weave this in with the theme of God’s Mysterious Ways. It is a stretch to say that God would be okay with murderers, and the writers have failed to work this storyline into something believable or at least acceptable.

That aside, the cast is superb, particularly, Rowan Atkinson and Maggie Smith. Unlike his other comedic characters, Rowan Atkinson takes the hysterics down a few notches to let his acting abilities as a serious actor shine through. In an understated and often mild-mannered tone, his role as the vicar comes across as a sincere and devoted character. It would be hard to believe that he is a comedian if this is the first time one has seen him on screen.

The ever versatile Maggie Smith does an amazing job playing the homicidal housekeeper. Probably better known to many as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, Smith easily combines the characteristics of a graceful and loving grandmother with that of an insane killer finding solutions to the daily family problems.

Aside from the flaws in the plot and its believability, the laughs are definitely in it, done in that subtle and obscure way only the English can do so well. Overall, this is really more like a serious movie cloaked in the guise of a dark comedy.

Movie Rating:

(If you can overlook the lack of realism, you should enjoy it for its wonderful cast and cynical humour)

Review by Jolene Tan