There is a particular brand of British light comedy that hugely appeals to me - from the top of my head I can name "Calendar Girls", "The Hundred-Foot Journey", "Shirley Valentine" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - they are combination of well-known familiar actors, excellent witty scripts and unpretentious film-making, in short, perfect escapism. I won't go into explanations why other countries simply don't match these high criteria, but there is simply too much moralism and political correctness elsewhere - Brits are just untouchable. To this list, I can now add lovely "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" which is another feel-good British movie that uplifts the soul and can be enjoyed time and time again.
It is apparently based on a famous novel, however the novel was published in 1958. and I have never heard of it, so its all new to me. The story is happening in 1950s London where widowed Mrs.Harris lives a drab life working as a cleaner and accidentally discovers that one of her clients own a Dior dress - it is the most beautiful thing Mrs.Harris has ever seen and from that day on, she decides to save her pennies and buy herself one. The whole plot about her going to Paris and what happens there is just too precious to be carelessly wasted here so I just suggest to watch the movie - its absolutely worth checking out and it is lovely little gem indeed, in fact I wanted it never to end.
Lesley Manville is perfect in a title role as a simple, sweet and lonely widow - we have see her a hundreds of times but probably still can't point the finger where exactly she played, looks like she was always part of bigger cast ("Secrets & Lies", "Topsy-Turvy", "Maleficent") and to my knowledge this is the first time that I see her in a main, starring role. Surprisingly, there is also Isabelle Huppert and Matrix antagonist Lambert Wilson (this time as a suave French Marquis), Lucas Bravo (from "Emily in Paris") and Jason Isaacs (Malfoy in the "Harry Potter"). I strongly recommend this one.
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