Keeping Mum
Keeping Mum is a delightful black comedy that combines British humor with murder. It was directed by Niall Johnson and the screenplay was written by Richard Russo (who wrote Empire Falls among other books).
The Goodfellow family lives in a small village in England. Walter (Rowan Atkinson) is the Vicar of a local church. He is a very busy man who doesn't seem to have much time for his wife Gloria (Kristen Scott Thomas). The Goodfellows have a teenage daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) who is forever changing boyfriends and a son Petey (Toby Parkes) who is a bit timid and gets bullied by some of his classmates. Gloria spends some of her free time taking golf lessons with her American instructor Lance (Patrick Swayze) and it isn't only golf that they have in common.
Things start to change for the family when they hire a housekeeper named Grace (Maggie Smith). It is like she is a guardian angel sent to resolve their every problem. But there is more to her than meets the eye and finding out the truth is a lot of fun. That is as far as I will go in telling you the plot because I don't want to spoil things for you.
Smith is wonderful as Grace and brings such wicked humor to her role. Scott Thomas is terrific as the frustrated Gloria. I think that she is one of the most underrated actresses around. And I was pleasantly surprised at how good Atkinson is because I am not a fan of his comedy programs. And the scenery of the English countryside is magnificent.
I found myself and the audience I was with laughing throughout the film. I must say that early on I figured out the secret. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the film. Keeping Mum is an old fashioned film. This type of film isn't made very often these days but judging from people's reaction to it I hope that there are more films like this on the horizon in the future. While the film may not leave you in deep thought it will certainly keep you entertained while you are watching it. It is just what you need when you want to see something light and frothy.
The Goodfellow family lives in a small village in England. Walter (Rowan Atkinson) is the Vicar of a local church. He is a very busy man who doesn't seem to have much time for his wife Gloria (Kristen Scott Thomas). The Goodfellows have a teenage daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) who is forever changing boyfriends and a son Petey (Toby Parkes) who is a bit timid and gets bullied by some of his classmates. Gloria spends some of her free time taking golf lessons with her American instructor Lance (Patrick Swayze) and it isn't only golf that they have in common.
Things start to change for the family when they hire a housekeeper named Grace (Maggie Smith). It is like she is a guardian angel sent to resolve their every problem. But there is more to her than meets the eye and finding out the truth is a lot of fun. That is as far as I will go in telling you the plot because I don't want to spoil things for you.
Smith is wonderful as Grace and brings such wicked humor to her role. Scott Thomas is terrific as the frustrated Gloria. I think that she is one of the most underrated actresses around. And I was pleasantly surprised at how good Atkinson is because I am not a fan of his comedy programs. And the scenery of the English countryside is magnificent.
I found myself and the audience I was with laughing throughout the film. I must say that early on I figured out the secret. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the film. Keeping Mum is an old fashioned film. This type of film isn't made very often these days but judging from people's reaction to it I hope that there are more films like this on the horizon in the future. While the film may not leave you in deep thought it will certainly keep you entertained while you are watching it. It is just what you need when you want to see something light and frothy.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:31 PM
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