Gente con clase

This was a pretty darn good movie, and I always enjoy seeing Julie Andrews do comedy. But for me, the highlight of the movie was the dinner scene, with "Moxy" (Sophie Thompson) furiously biting her tongue while her clueless real-life sister (Jeanne Trippelhorn) concocts falsely slanderous stories about their mother, painting her as a bawdy alcoholic. Moxy's outraged cry of "Jugs of Beer!?" after Miranda/Freda leaves is priceless, as is her dressing down of Freda near the end of the film.

I liked this film, too, because it didn't sink too far into the "Silly Ass/Bright Young Thing" mode that most of Coward's works tend to. Rent it if you can. It's worth catching.

What can I say?

I loved this movie. It is a classic comedy of manners. Written by bitch extrodinaire Noel Coward, the movie sparkles with wit and one-liners. Colin Firth plays the resident bitch (very much a Noel Coward type characture). Julie Andrews is in fine form as the matriarch fearing her son is going to marry beneath the family by marrying Hollywood starlet Jeeane Tripplehorn, who looks gorgeous in this film.

Mad servants and stuck-up butlers abound, this movie is a real find.

And final praise must go to the person who steals this movie from under the very esteemed company, and that is Sophie Thompson as ladies maid Moxie. The dinner scenes where she is getting drunker, and drunker is the funniest parts of a very funny movie.

To be recommended.

This is great fun and a reminder of when actors and actresses just weren't welcome in polite society (and why). Just watching Colin Firth's face is delicious, he is subtle, funny and brilliant! The star-struck maid alone is worth the price of admission; and Stephen Frye is a perfect butler to Julie's elegant, polished master of each successive situation. Sophie Thompson steals the dinner scene and just about every other one she is in. This is a fabulous, literate comedy of manners with everyone spot-on with their characters. Every time I watch it I find something clever, witty and subtle that I missed the previous time. Just sit back and have fun watching all the stereotypes get skewered.

Most of the criticism has been because the gags of Noel Coward about class are not so funny now as they were then. But that is just to judge the film by the play. It's *mildly* funny - I dozed at the beginning but then woke up when I realised how enjoyable it was. The real gems are the superb performances all the way through and the way English and American life, mannerisms and etiquette of the 50's (when they were far more distinct) are portrayed so touchingly. Luxuriate in a nice comfy cinema seat (if they have them near you) and be pampered by it!

For anyone who enjoys British class distinctions and the upstairs-downstairs culture of life among the manor born, this stylish tale of a Hollywood actress who is preparing to marry into a quirky aristocratic family is sumptuously designed and a great deal of fun. Julie Andrews shines, as does Jeanne Triplehorn and Stephen Fry as the butler who is impeccably correct amid the chaos which ensues when things inevitably begin to go awry. It is a farce that absolutely works. The 1950s era is captured with elegant attention to detail and the characters, for all their foibles, are likable and thoroughly engaging. Great entertainment for anyone who is lucky enough to happen upon it!