Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day [HD]

A Day Worth Viewing
Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is the governess of last resort. No, that doesn't mean she turns naughty children around. In fact, she doesn't seem to be able to keep a job. Fired from her last job, she literally has nothing. And her employment agency is tired of trying to find her jobs. After all, jobs are scarce in 1930's London. Desperate, Miss Pettigrew takes the address of a client, a Delysia Lafoose (Amy Adams).

When Miss Pettigrew arrives at the address, she finds Delysia in crisis. While saving the day, Miss Pettigrew learns that Delysia isn't looking for a governess but a social secretary because they are fashionable.

And Delysia definitely needs help sorting out her life. She's a singer who wants to become an actress. But she's having huge man problems. Specifically, there are three men in her life. There's Phil (Tom Payne), who she has slept with to gain the lead in the play he is producing. There's Nick (Mark Strong), who owns the...

One day leads to others...
Amy Adams. Angelina Joli. Sarah Jessica Parker. Frances McDormand. Odd, huh? Three younger beauties who can act. One maturing woman, not-so-beautiful, can stand equally with them. Star power? Inner beauty? Confidence? Frances McDormand has It which others can see.

"Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" is a fine vehicle for our Frances. She plays the low-key Miss Pettigrew, freshly out of a job, desperate for a new one in pre-war London, as she has no apartment and no possessions other than what she has on her person. Why can't she keep a job? Because she is painfully truthful!

Through a fluke she acquires the address of a rich, young American singer and inquires within. What this American needs is a therapist/parent. What she gets is Miss Pettigrew, a magical godmother in the guise of "social secretary." You see, Delysia McFosse is morally confused in her quest to be a stage and screen star. She currently is sleeping with three men: one for an apartment and unlimited...

'Brother, can you spare a dime?'
The lead-in cinematic and musical elements for this delightfully entertaining, fast paced, little bit of nostalgia film prepares the viewer for the story as well as any 'overture' could. The setting is London in the 1930s, the day of the first blitzkrieg, and the tone of the imagery is that quiet depression and angst that tainted the world during that time. We meet our main character Miss Guinevere Pettigrew, a dowdy, middle-aged failed governess as she wanders through the streets and soup kitchens - all to the tune of 'Brother, can you spare a dime'. This 'day in a life' abruptly changes when Miss Pettigrew, still saddened by the loss of her beloved in WW I and struggling to be moral as the daughter of a clergyman in a world gone to tatters. How she finds one day of joy - and in the process changes the lives of those she encounters - is the line of the story, a screenplay by David Magee and Simon Beaufoy based on the novel of the same name by Winifred Watson and directed with...

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