where: CINE ARTS @ PLEASANT HILL in Pleasant Hill, CA
when: Monday, June 22nd, 2009
show: 7:15 pm
auditorium: 2
seat: 7th row, 7th column
It is the "Roaring '20s" in which we find our female protagonist, Larita (Jessica Biel) receiving the admiring glances from a younger gentleman, John Whittaker (Ben Barnes). After a brief courtship, the two are happily wed. So, off they go to meet his parents in England at the family estate. As she makes the acquaintance, she realizes that the chilly reception that she is receiving has nothing to do with the weather.
The family matriarch (Kristin Scott Thomas) wants her son to marry for money, not for love. But here she is looking at a cigarette smoking older woman (a bleached blonde bimbo, no less) from a blue-collar (not blue-blood) American (horrors!) family and a scandalous feminist, to boot, with a skeleton in the closet! At the outset, she is determined to derail this fledgling union because as an aristocrat, money is her sole concern.
Although Larita is an unwelcome guest, the servants take an immediate liking to her because of her commoner status. And she starts to find a kindred soul in the dishevelled patriarch (Colin Firth) who is not psychologically recovered from his war experience.
Situations go from bad to worst for poor, isolated Larita. It is up to her young husband to stand up for her.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) The sitting down on the couch repeatedly; 2.) The Can-Can dance routine (a bad choice); and 3.) The Tango (a really bad choice).
audience reaction: They liked this movie.
recommendation: This is good for people interested in culture clash-type movies. English and American, so similar yet so dissimilar.
spoiler alert! Why did the prim and proper sister-in-law agree to the suggestion of what not to wear for the Can-Can dance?
fyi: Although she has a "killer" body, I really don't find Jessica Biel's face all that appealing. And speaking of body, check out the smooth curves on that hot Fraser-Nash BMW!
word of advice: Know what you're getting yourself into if you plan on getting married, and lay all your cards out on the table at the outset.
tidbits: As I was in the process of exiting the shopping center, I almost walked into a plate glass. And my past life as a bird flew before me!
