8/14/08

Bob's Big Screen

New DVDs include old-fashioned screen comedy and TV phenomenon

by Bob Connally

Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day

(PG-13, Avail. 8/19)

Smart, quick-witted characters trading snappy dialogue in the middle of crazy situations fell out of favor long ago. Movies like "His Girl Friday" and "The Philadelphia Story" just don't get made anymore. When "What's Up, Doc?" was released in 1972 it came with the tagline, "A screwball comedy. Remember them?" 1972! So the release last March of "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" was a welcome sight. It's not as zany as "His Girl" or "Doc?" but it has enough screwball elements to qualify and two of the best actresses working today, Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

It’s London in the late 1930s. Guinevere Pettigrew (McDormand) is a governess who has just lost another job. She's not bad at what she does; she just seems to rub her agency's high class clientele the wrong way, not to mention her boss who's not going to give Guinevere another "last chance." Out of desperation Guinevere breaks the rules, seemingly for the first time in her life, and sneaks off to the London home of American starlet Delysia Lafosse (Adams).

Upon Guinevere's arrival, the two radically different women find themselves working together to clean up several messes before the home's owner, Nick, arrives. Guinevere and Delysia make an unlikely but effective team almost instantly. This early sequence is very long but very funny and it's a terrific showcase for McDormand and Adams.

The rest of the film takes place over the course of the day, with Delysia bringing Guinevere into a world she's only ever cleaned up after. Delysia also spends the day trying to decide between being with the young cad Phil (Tom Payne), the rich but controlling Nick (Mark Strong), or the poor but noble Michael (Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies"). Guinevere knows the right choice as do we. Meanwhile Guinevere herself meets Joe (the always dependable Ciaran Hinds), a man in the world of British high society but not of it. However, his engagement to the vindictive Edythe (the great Shirley Henderson) is a serious problem.

With a screenplay by David Magee and Simon Beaufoy and directed by Bharat Nalluri, "Miss Pettigrew" often feels like a play on film, but for this kind of movie it works. This is the sort of film that's all about great actors trading great lines with the occasional moment of physical comedy in between.

Like the character she plays, McDormand is the definition of professional. Twelve years after “Fargo,” it's nice to see her in a lead role again. As for Adams, she can add screwball comedy to the list of things at which she excels as an actress. She's going to be around long after Jessica Alba and Lindsay Lohan have been forgotten.

The outcome is predictable and it's lighter than light but that's as it should be. At one point Guinevere asks Joe, "Am I that old fashioned?"

"Yes," he replies. "And all the better for it." So is this movie. 8/10.

Heroes: Season 2

(Avail. 8/26)

Every so often a television show comes along with a bit of promise, gets off to a pretty good start, and before you know it that show has become a genuine phenomenon. People get so pulled in they shout at the TV and, when an episode ends, next week cannot come fast enough.

In its first season “Heroes” was such a show. It was fresh, exciting, had characters who were fascinating and whom we genuinely cared about. Creator Tim Kring put himself in the position of having a lot to live up to in season two. Unfortunately, he did not. This isn’t to say that the second season of “Heroes” is bad but it’s too scattershot. Too hit and miss.

We pick up four months after the season one finale, which saw Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) exploding in the sky and Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) shot back into ancient Japan. At this time, Peter is still missing and presumed dead (I mean he…he exploded) and Hiro is still lost in time. As for the many other characters, the mysterious Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman) has relocated his family, including cheerleading daughter Claire (Hayden Panettiere), and nobody seems to know just what the heck happened to the murderous Sylar (Zachary Quinto). Yes, there are a lot more characters, but I’ve only got about 500 words.

The second season introduces more potential heroes. One, Maya, has a power that makes her an unwitting killer. Sadly Maya and the majority of these other new additions bring nothing to the table. Like many, during long stretches with the newbies I was left wondering, when are we going to get back to Mohinder and Noah’s attempt to bring down the Company? When will Peter remember who he is? And when will Hiro get back to the present already? In these moments the show simply became maddening.

Easily the strongest addition is new company man Bob Bishop (Stephen Tobolowsky). Over the course of the first year Noah’s status as a good guy or the most evil of the bad guys was always in question. It also made him the show’s most interesting character. With Bob there is no question. This guy is up to no good. His daughter Elle (the criminally underused Kristen Bell) carries out his bidding, but she’s more conflicted than she first appears

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Cut short by the writer’s strike, season two of “Heroes” never reached the point where I wanted to give up or change the channel, but it failed to expand on what was started in the first season. Hopefully when season three starts up this fall, Kring will have learned from the mistakes of the second year. New episodes begin September 22 on NBC.

Also Coming to DVD:

August 19

House: Season 4

Dexter: Season 2

Gossip Girl: Season 1

Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 1

Recount

Street Kings (R)

The Life Before Her Eyes (R)

August 26

Redbelt (R)- 8/10

NCIS: Season 5

Entourage: Season 4

What Happens in Vegas (PG-13)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Blu-Ray)

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? (PG-13)