Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

You come for the Amy Adams, but you stay for the Frances McDormand in this pleasant though uneven film based on the period novel by Winifred Watson. McDormand is Guinevere Pettigrew, a down-on-her-luck nanny in London on the eve of World War Two. A series of only partially intentional events leads Miss Pettigrew to take the position of ‘social secretary’ to Adams, an aspiring American singer/actress caught in a self made love quadrangle. The two help each other, though mostly things just seem to happen in this story that feels like its missing pieces of both plot and character development. More low key then I anticipated, it’s a likable film, but doesn’t feel fully realized, which at times causes you to almost lose interest. Ciarán Hinds has a certain presence as Miss Pettigrew’s love interest. 2 ½ out 5.