Miss Potter

In 1902, in London, the spinster Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) is a thirty-six year-old woman who lives with her bourgeois parents. Her snobbish mother Helen Potter (Barbara Flynn) had introduced several bachelors to Beatriz until she was twenty years old but she turned them all down.

Beatrix Potter has been drawing animals and making up stories about them since she was a child but her parents has never recognized her as an artist. One day, Miss Potter offers her stories to a print house and the rookie publisher Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) is delighted with her tales and publishes her first children's book.

The successful selling leads Norman to publish two other books and Miss Potter becomes the best friend of his single sister Millie Warne (Emily Watson). Sooner they fall in love with each other but Helen does not accept that her daughter marries a "trader". However, Beatrix's father Rupert Potter (Bill Paterson) proposes that his daughter spends the summer with his wife and him in their country house in Lake District and if she is still interested in Norman after the summertime, he would bless their marriage. When Miss Potter stops receiving letters from Norman, she is disappointed. Until the day she receives a letter from Millie explaining what had happened to Norman.

"Miss Potter" is a beautiful film about the life of the British writer of children's books Helen Beatrix Potter. This writer is not popular in Brazil and "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" was only published in Portuguese in 2009.

I saw "Miss Potter" without knowing that it was biographical and I found very sad when she loses Norman. However, Renée Zellweger once again has a magnificent performance in the role of a woman ahead of her time. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Miss Potter"

One would like to think that the most prolific children's author of all time was a fun-loving, happy, cheerful person, and yet this movie certainly shatters that image. Beatrix Potter (creator of Peter Rabbit among others) is depicted here as a shy, lonely, isolated and socially awkward woman who sometimes seems to live in an imagined world of her own and whose only friends are the animals she creates for her stories (her friendship with the animals being depicted by them becoming - to Beatrix only - animated creatures rather than still drawings.) All her relationships - save two - are problematic. Her original publishers don't take her work seriously, her father is loving but patronizing, her mother never appreciates her talent (at one point her father says to her mother "our daughter is famous, my dear, and you seem to be the only one who doesn't realize that!") The two exceptions are important though. Norman - who eventually is given responsibility for publishing her books (Potter is "fobbed off" onto him by his older brothers who actually run the firm) - believes in her and eventually falls madly in love with her and his sister Millie becomes her best friend. Still, though, the relationships turn tragic when Beatrix and Norman are engaged but can't tell anyone because her parents insist on keeping it a secret (they felt Beatrix was marrying beneath herself) and Norman then dies before the marriage takes place.

Renee Zellweger (my favourite actress who can take any role of any kind it seems and make it work brilliantly) was - well - brilliant as Beatrix Potter. The rest of the cast were quite solid - especially Barbara Flynn as Beatrix' mother, and Ewan McGregor as Norman. The strict moral standards of the early 20th century were portrayed well (it's shocking today to realize that a 32 year old unmarried woman would still have had to be chaperoned everywhere she went in that era) and the movie even manages some light humour now and then. Ultimately - one might say finally, because there's a point in the movie at which you desperately want Beatrix to break out of the stifling environment of her parents' home - the movie becomes uplifting, as Beatrix uses her newfound wealth to buy a farm where she can be on her own, becomes a bit of a social champion by buying surrounding properties to protect them from development and - finally - manages to fall in love and get married, although that's only told in the postscript.

This is, indeed, a movie both sad and touching. 7/10

Only the most curmudgeonly won't delight in this tender, inventive movie -- Miss Potter.

There aren't many movies that one can recommend to all of his or her friends, but Miss Potter may be the rare exception.

It has flair, style, and humanity.

Rene Zellwegger -- not everyone's favorite -- only occasionally simpers in her sensitive, forceful performance as writer Beatrix Potter.

Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson fit perfectly into their very likable characters.

The direction, screenplay, and art direction are all first-rate. And the sparing use of animation is wonderful. Peter Rabbit never looked so charming.

I watched this movie sort of by accident. Of course I was very familiar with Beatrix Potter the writer and painter and had read many of her stories to my children in their childhood years.

I spent some time working on a project in Barrow-in-Furness and the company put me up in the quaintly named Drunken Duck Hotel in the Lake District. I had a couple of weekends to look around the district and the hotel people suggested that I have a look at Hilltop Farm, at Near Sawrey. Her farm is captivating. But while her writing etc is one thing she was a passionate environmentalist and lover of the countryside, and a great philanthropist.

I bought the DVD there and watched it in the hotel. It is beautifully crafted and Renee Zellweger does indeed do a very good job. She was an immensely talented and modern woman for her time and I think this comes through in the movie. She was far more than Peter Rabbit.

I have to say, I chuckled over Ewan McGregors casting. While he does a good job as Miss Potter's ill-fated fiancée, I can't but think it was a nod to 'Mr McGregor'.

If you are ever in the Lake District, I would recommend the Drunken Duck and Hill Top Farm, and the nearby Hardknott Pass Rd which leads to the Roman fort.

Every time I see a book or a character of Beatrix Potter, it brings a nostalgic feeling that takes me back to when I was 7-10 years old, the time when I discovered her books and fell in love with them. I still love all the characters. Her paintings always amuse me with the delicacy, detail and creativity behind it and the books remain a favourite children's book to me.

Noonan does a a meritorious job of his presentation of Miss Potter. Though it's not exactly an accurate portrayal, the storytelling is commendable. He already has shown what an excellent storyteller he is in 'Babe' and 'Miss Potter' is an equally story that isn't overly saccharine-filled. He has a talent of showing spirited characters and relationships. The animation is used wonderfully giving us a glimpse of Beatrix's fantasy world. I also liked how her works were effectively introduced (without looking like a booksale promotion). Furthermore, it is gratifying that he shows Beatrix's contribution to conservation. He beautifully captures the dazzling English countryside, particularly the Lake District. So spectacular is Lake District that I immediately wanted to be there.

I could not picture anyone else other than Renee Zellweger who could have fitted the title role so well. Her touching portrayal of a extraordinary woman ahead of her time who manages to stay strong and dignified through her ups and downs is admirable to say the least. She's already mastered the British accent as has been evident in 'Bridget Jones's Diary' but here she also manages to adjust her English accordingly with the time period, sounding very natural.

Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson shine in their roles. McGregor as the slightly naive publisher, who believes in Potter and eventually falls in love, is a fine match for Zellweger's Potter while Emily Watson, who hardly ever disappoints, is outstanding. The rest of the cast that include Bill Paterson, Barbara Flynn, Matyelok Gibbs and Lloyd Owens are great.

A very minor quibble is that some important aspects of Beatrix's life were left out of the film, such as, the ignorance by the of her work by the officials (due to her gender) in the field of botany. Yet, even though it's not an accurate depiction, like Marc Forster's magical 'Finding Neverland' it remains charming, lovely and entertaining. It works as a slice of life and a character study.