Thursday, June 26, 2014

Shirley Valentine (1989)

Shirley's a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, who finds herself talking to the wall while she prepares her husband's chip'n'egg, wondering what happened to her life. [imdb]

Nominated for 2 Oscars:

Best Actress: Pauline Collins
Best Original Song


 By now I have already seen the film twice, and I was more than surprised when I first saw it. And it's not just Shirley's performance - she's good; great, actually - it's the screenplay itself. I expected some silly romantic comedy, not a deep & meaningful comedy about life passing by and missed opportunities. 

There's something a bit strange about it: the film itself is quite dated, especially in the directing style. But the screenplay feels timeless and important and funny. On that note, it would've clearly deserved an Adapted Screenplay nomination. The acting is fine, but it's clearly a one-woman-show when it comes to the focus of the film; Shirley succeeds, though I find the performance less flashy than the material would led to believe.


My rating for the film: 8.5/10. It's a surprisingly important film that I think everyone should see.

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