Nigel Cole
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Union representative Albert Passingham (Bob Hoskins, "The Long Good Friday," "Mrs Henderson Presents"), who was brought up by a single mother working multiple, low paying jobs, encouraged the plucky Rita O'Grady (Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Never Let Me Go") to join a meeting with company execs about a possible work stoppage.
Not that we haven't seen accomplished romantic comedies about people in their youth ("A Little Romance"), middle age ("Moonstruck," "Something's Gotta Give"), and older ("Harold and Maude"), but mostly such movies are about folks like the younger Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Julie Roberts, Hugh Grant, Kate Hudson, Nicolas Cage, and the like.
Also more than holding their own are Christine Baranski ( The Grinch ) and Julie Walters ( Calendar Girls ) as Donnas old friends, the other members of Donna and the Dynamos, their former trio.
Mona Lisa Smile comes to us courtesy of the writing team of Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, previously responsible for such hallmarks of female empowerment as Superman IV, Mercury Rising and the Planet of the Apes remake, and they’ve scripted this ostensibly more serious, character-driven picture according to the same high-concept principles.
Brenda Blethyn (Saving Grace) is Elizabeth’s mother, and Donald Sutherland is her white-haired, kindly father.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Directed by Brad Silberling
influenced by Saving Grace (2000)
Connolly is a likable eccentric for his few scenes, but pity Luis Guzmán ("Anger Management"), Jennifer Coolidge (TV's "Joey"), Jane Adams ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), Craig Ferguson ("Saving Grace") and Jamie Harris ("Rick") as Olaf's unsavory troupe.
Brenda Blethyn (Saving Grace) is Elizabeth’s mother, and Donald Sutherland is her white-haired, kindly father.
It’s an admittedly intentional and cartoonish contrast, but, even then, the satire falls flat; its rhetorical naffness recalling the meek third act development of that other ‘chocolate box’ depiction of parochial Brits, Calendar Girls , after they’re also sent off to Hollywood fame and fortune.
And while the off-beat structure does set Definitely, Maybe apart from other romantic comedies (A Lot Like Love, the 2005 Ashton Kutcher/Amanda Peet romance, being one notable exception), Brooks' mid-movie use of a fairly hackneyed plot device ensures that most viewers will be able to figure out the identity of Will's ultimate choice far sooner than one might've liked.
Eddie the Eagle (2016)
Directed by Dexter Fletcher
influenced by Calendar Girls (2003), Made in Dagenham (2010)
Themes
But the British have always had a soft spot for stories about plucky losers and Dexter Fletcher ’s comic biopic nestles neatly alongside the likes of The Full Monty , Brassed Off and Calendar Girls .
The non-stop soundtrack of pseudo-Vangelis synth-pomp and cheesy Eighties pop hits gets quite annoying (it culminates, as it had to, with Van Halen 's "Jump"), but Eddie the Eagle might just tap into that teeming ocean of Saturday night punter-hood that lies somewhere between Mamma Mia! and Made in Dagenham.
Meanwhile Emily's met Ben (Jeremy Sisto, "Wrong Turn"), but when Oliver turns up on her doorstep in LA needing a shoulder to cry on, the duo take to the road, eating junk food and singing badly.
Sally Hawkins ("Made in Dagenham") and Craig Roberts are hissable as Jane's aunt and her odious son (Fukunaga turns up the volume in their home which has the result of making Lowood almost tolerable in comparison, a good choice).