[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img] All too often, doe-eyes from across a room stand in for a credible romantic spark, and it’s only because we have to accept that two characters are in love that we indulge shallow characterizations. For plot’s sake, of course. But the cleverness of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day lies in its being both romantic and comic without obviously falling into the romantic comedy genre trap. The film begins with Miss Pettigrew (McDormand) fired from her job as governess, consigned to the penniless streets, and unable to secure a new position from her exasperated employment agency. With an innocuous and perfectly understandable subterfuge, she succeeds in infiltrating another assignment, only to find herself in the turbulent position of social secretary to an ambitious singer/actress torn between three men vying for her affections – a nightclub owner, a show producer’s son, and a poor pianist.

With understated grace and quick-thinking wit under pressure, McDormand’s Miss Pettigrew is a Mary Poppins for the jet-set. Bewildered, as only a fish in the water can be, but up to the task of improvising. In a charming counterpoint, Amy Adams’ Delysia LaFosse – an overly-carbonated but surprisingly substantial and irresistible young woman torn between the ambitions of her career and the aspirations of her heart – is the jet-setter par excellence who benefits from Miss Pettigrew’s patient counseling while offering a taste of the good life. McDormand and Adams are adorable on screen together; the generation gap blurs and disappears with surprising ease.

But the story’s maturity is most delightfully exemplified by the inclusion of a comparatively rare form of on-screen romance – skip a paragraph to avoid mild spoilers – namely, the romance between two characters who aren’t twenty-somethings. Ciaran Hinds, with great dignity and an uncanny ability to convey the weariness beneath his characters’ seemingly effortless charm and joie-de-vivre, is, like McDormand, may perhaps not the obvious choice in romantic leads, yet that kind of prejudice is utterly refuted by Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. All the more noteworthy for being a sideshow rather than the main attraction, the subtle growth of Miss Pettigrew’s relationship with Hinds’ Joe Blumfield, a popular and highly coveted women’s lingerie designer, is the stuff smart writing is all about. How and why these characters come together feels like the result of a natural, uncontrived evolution. These are people who talk to each other, who mine the depth of sympathetic life experiences to find, in each other, a companion. McDormand and Hinds are beautifully matched, and their shared on-screen time is a marvel.

Also worthy of marvel is the production quality –sets, costumes, cinematography – that recreates late 1930s London with a luxurious eye for period detail. Luxury, that is, tempered by director Bharat Nalluri’s keen and subtle evocation of the anxiety brought on by the looming terror of World War II. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, with all its swirling fish-out-of-water and rom-com antics, has a serious side that translates to sophistication. It’s a beautiful, free-spirited and, above all, honest movie.

Entertainment Value: ** (out of two)

Technical Quality: ** (out of two)

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Written by David Magee and SImon Beaufoy. Directed by Bharat Nalluri. Starring Frances McDormand, Ciaran Hinds, Amy Adams, and Shirley Henderson. 92 minutes. Rated PG-13 for some partial nudity and innuendo.