Film review: ‘MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS’, by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

Mrs Harris goes to Paris is a charming but very twee and often implausible feel-good comedy/drama. The film at times recalls movies like Hidden Figures, The Help and Pretty Woman as it features a working-class woman who’s ignored or looked down upon by society but proves astonishingly formidable and cleverer than those who see themselves as her superiors. There’s also a touch of Mary Poppins in its mercurial British title character.

Lesley Manville plays the titular Ada Harris, a cleaner from Battersea in London who, by 1957, is just coming to terms with the fact that her husband isn’t coming home from the war. Treated as almost invisible by her clients, she longs for the glamorous fantasy she thinks a custom-made Dior dress can provide. Saving and miraculously receiving unexpected funds, she takes her longed-for trip to Paris. The fantasy isn’t quite what she hoped for, though.  While she meets some wonderful people at the house of Dior such as the sensitive, Satre-reading model Natasha (Alba Baptista) and the thoughtful young accountant Andre (Lucas Bravo) others, like the officious Dior Director Claudine (Isabelle Huppert) treat her with the same disdain she experienced back home.   Mrs Harris, however, isn’t one to let snooty fashionistas kill her dreams.

Lesley Manville, who was unforgettable in the Mike Leigh film Another Year, delivers such a likeable and grounded performance that she generally manages to hold the film together even when confronted by some major potholes and unlikely coincidences. Her no-nonsense working-class street smarts could have descended into cliché, especially when pitted against snobs like Claudine but Manville makes the character and the culture clash believable.  Still, there are a few scenes even Manville can’t save, including one where Ada leads a rebellion at Dior and almost takes over the whole establishment just through sheer force of will.

While impressive, this is a lesser role for Huppert.  She’s defined her career with complex, challenging characters and while she certainly makes Claudine dislikeable, this feels a little like a bit part.  Alba Baptista and Lucas Bravo make the best of fairly predictable roles while Ellen Thomas as Ada’s best friend Vi, Lambert Wilson as the suave, cravat-wearing Marquis de Chassagne who takes a shine to Ada and Jason Isaacs (yes, Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter films) as another potential suitor, provide strong support.

This is a slightly odd-looking film, shot in grey murky tones, it often feels gloomy despite the perky Mrs Harris.  The 1950’s period detail is generally convincing although some CGI backdrops are a little too artificial.

This film will appeal to a particular type of audience, Marvel and violent action fans will probably not be flocking to this one.  Those who enjoy something more genteel and low key, however, will we rewarded

Nick’s rating: ***

Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance

Classification: PG.

Director(s): Anthony Fabian.

Release date: 27th Oct 2022.

Running time: 117 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

Related Posts:

tagged with , , , , , , , , ,