A Vida num Só Dia

Cute 30's-style story, but the best thing about this film was the art deco sets, the best art deco work I have seen since the real deco films of of the 30's. I almost forgot the story at times while looking at the gorgeous deco details in almost every scene. What a knockout apartment Amy Adam's character had, and the Savoy Hotel, wow again! Stunning, both.

As the story has been detailed many times here, I won't, except for this.....it was a combination of Cinderella, My Fair Lady, and many others showing rags to riches development of the star, along with a prince-in-hand, happy ending. The story was madcap, with Amy Adams' flashing star power and smile moving it along at the same breakneck speed she went through the men in her life. Frances McDormand played an unemployed, dowdy nanny turned Adams' "social secretary" by hook and by crook deception, and underplayed her part with great reserve and dignity even in the face of possibly having to live on the street again. Wonderful parts for both talents and both ran with them. Very entertaining film and a real treat for the senses as it also had beautiful camera-work to show off those fantastic deco sets.

If you miss the style, fashion and flair of those '30's nightclub films with big stars like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, see this one and feel like you went back 70 years to the grand old age of "style" film-making.

This quirky romance is set in London right before the outbreak of World War II. There are a few times in the movie where that context is significant, but they are very few and are of great portent, but not regarding the plot. Frances McDormand stars as Miss Pettigrew and when the story opens, she has just been fired from the position as a servant of a wealthy lady. With no assets, she goes to a soup kitchen for a free meal and when she is about to eat it, she is bumped, and it falls on the ground. Acquiring her last job through an agency, she goes there, only to be told that with her record, she is now considered unemployable. Desperate, Miss Pettigrew learns that another employee of the agency is scheduled to go to a job for an actress and intercepts the communication so that the actress believes that Miss Pettigrew was sent by the agency. Amy Adams plays the glamorous and high-society singer actress Delysia Lafosse, and when Miss Pettigrew arrives, the apartment is in a state of chaos, Lafosse needs to get the man in her bed dressed and out of the apartment before another man in her life arrives. Lafosse is portrayed as a superficial airhead, stringing several men along while she determines which one of best suited to advance her career. However, as the film progresses, we learn that she is much more than that. Clearly a child of the Depression, Lafosse is for the first time somebody, rather than just another woman struggling to survive. This movie is meant to be a comedy romance, yet the humor is often lost due to the overplayed dingbat features of Lafosse and the self-serving wickedness of other women. The romance part works much better, particularly at the end, where everything turns out to be about love. Your emotional strings are pulled when you think that Miss Pettigrew is suddenly tossed back where she was in the beginning, alone in a terminal with no hope. Suddenly, things change. Although this is clearly a chick-flick, guys can relate to it as well. My favorite parts of the movie are the references to the potential for war between Britain and Germany. There are not many but make up for it in their ominous nature. For example, there is a scene where a formation of heavy British bombers fly overhead. Anyone with knowledge of what happened during the Second World War will recognize it for the powerful harbinger of their future reality.

This reminded me of something that Irene Dunne or Norma Shearer would have starred in as Delysia, with Cary Grant playing the love interest, Michael. The cast was excellent. Frances McDormand in the title role was outstanding. Ciaran Hinds (Julius Ceaser from HBO's "Rome") was great. The screenplay was first-rate. The cinematography was perfect, capturing pre-WWII London flawlessly.

What really made the movie standout was Amy Adams as Delysia. She truly shined in her role. She has quickly become among the top tier female actors in Hollywood. She has great acting range in both comic and dramatic roles, and she can sing. She's got it all. Her love interest in the film, Lee Pace, was also very good. They had the type of chemistry that worked so well in the best 1930's screwball comedies with Cary Grant & Irene Dunne, among others.

This is a very good movie, well directed, written, & acted. I would recommend this movie to anyone in the mood for a good romantic comedy.

Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a penniless nanny, currently out of a job. Although she has worked for a placement agency in the past, they give her the cold shoulder this time, mostly because her last three stints as a nanny, with impossible children, fared badly. Absolutely desperate for work, Miss Pettigrew hears of a position as a social secretary as she is walking out the agency's door. Making a beeline to the appropriate home, she encounters the young starlet, Delysia La Fosse (Amy Adams) who asked for her services. But, what doings! Delysia has had a male guest, overnight, who is not the man who owns the flat where she is currently bunking! The interloper must be ushered out before Mr. Moneybags returns or Delysia will be in a heap of trouble. Not missing a beat, Miss Pettigrew gets the situation under control with her innate wisdom. Delysia is grateful. But, the day is only getting started. There is a third man in Delysia's life and the young beauty is juggling suitors in a quest to become a bonafide star of the screen. Not only that, Delysia whisks Miss Pettigrew off to a fashion show and salon, where the new social secretary gets a makeover and meets a rich, handsome man (Ciaran Hinds) with eyes for HER. Is it possible to go from rags to riches in twenty four hours? Definitely, maybe! This is a lovely film with a great plot and a terrific cast. Adams is engaging as the beautiful but mixed-up starlet while Hinds is marvelous as the man who rediscovers what is important in life. The rest of the players are also wonderful, with a word of mention extended to Shirley Henderson for her nice turn as a conniving, inconvenient woman. But, really, this is McDormand's film, as she is the heart and soul of the picture and deservedly so, for her performance is absolutely enchanting and touching. Needless to say, the sets and costumes from the late 1930's are grand and so are the film's art direction and photography. Congratulations are hereby given to the fine, fine script and story, as well. Do you want to experience movie bliss? Then, don't miss Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, as your day will be as bright as newly minted penny, after a viewing.

Welcome to a world of lavish delights. A world filled with fashion shows, cocktail parties, and the latest gossip. This is the world Miss Pettigrew finds her self swept up into, and where she lives her day…to the fullest.

Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a nanny that has just been dropped by her placement agency after being fired for the third time from another displeased client. In her desperation for employment she steals an address card to a new client, and is soon on their doorstep, posing as the new nanny from the agency. This new client turns out to be, Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a young singer/actress wannabe who is competing for the lead in a big production play. She has no children and wants a nanny more as a secretary or "social secretary" as she later calls Miss Pettigrew. Within a matter of minutes of her arrival Miss Pettigrew helps Delysia outwit two of the three men she is seeing, avoiding a possible catastrophe. This makes Delysia worship Miss Pettigrew and before long she is whisking her away to a fashion show and salon before a cocktail party in the evening.

As the characters play with love like a fine chess game, Miss Pettigrew helps Delysia maneuver through this dazzling champagne 'n' strawberry-drenched world of revelries that the rich use in a desperate attempt to conceal the looming dread of WWII, meanwhile enjoying tidbits of luxuries she would never have dreamed of.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is an absolute delight to watch from the very beginning up until the final end. The production, directing, writing, and acting are all superb as they recreate the WWII era in England.

The acting, well Frances McDormand and Amy Adams as the two leads, need I say more. These two actresses work together so flawlessly. Frances McDormand masters a British accent and gives a performance of layers. Few actresses can play a character that "acts" fakily-sweet and still give such a realistic performance as Amy Adams. Her performance reminded me of her recent golden-globe nominated performance in Enchanted.

Overall this is a charming, delightfully entertaining film with wonderful performances and a sharp script.