Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

As we are waning from the summer movie season, we start seeing those films that are considered smaller or insignificant that are being released so as to make some sort of profit. Well, that being a typically normal assessment, once in a while, we get thrown a bone and that bone is in the image of "Mrs.Harris Goes to Paris". 

This tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady, Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) in 1957 London who falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress , and decides that that she must have one of her own. After she works, starves and gambles to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris which will change not only her own out look, but the very future of the House of Dior. Through her friends both old and recent including Archie (Jason Isaacs), Natasha (Alba Baptista), Andre Fauvel (Lucas Bravo) and Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson), she is able to transverse her adventure through the goings on at the House of Dior.

Others to round out the cast are Rose Williams as Pamela Penrose, Isabella Huppert as Claudine Colbert, Anna Chancellor as Lady Dant, Freddie Fox as RAF officer, Roxanne Duran as Marguerite, Christian McKay as Giles Newcombe and Ellen Thomas as Vi Butterfield.

This was poignantly and compassionately directed by Anthony Fabian ("Skin" '08, "Embracing the Tiger" (documentary) '09, "Louder Than Words" '13, "Good Hope" (documentary) '19) plus TV movie documentaries and shorts. The compassion and pathos this filmmaker was able to extract out of his actors, specifically that of Manville was incredible. These characters shined throughout this film, and this speaks volumes for the directing. It was written with amazing aplomb by Fabian, Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson and Olivia Hetreed based on the novel by Paul Gallico. Usually, when there are more than two writers on any given project, the storyline becomes bogged down with inconsistencies and choppiness--too many hands in the pot, but this film was well written even with four writers involved. I had great trepidation in seeing this, however after viewing this, I was amazed how well put together it was. It was about a good-natured and compassionate person always being the forever optimist. She knows how to get involved in people's lives without coming across as mettlesome, and this is creative writing at its finest. Lesley Manville was a joy in her role as Ada Harris and could possibly garner her an Oscar nod, but we'll see. 

If you like British films, you'll love this, but even if you're not, the writing, directing and acting will bring you to tears. It's a feel good story, with a feel good message all in a two-hour running time. This film needs to be seen by so many people considering the awful, fearful world we live in these days--and because of this, this was a breath of fresh air. 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                            Rated: PG                                                115mins.

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