Shirley Valentine Movie Review

Surprise! Thanks to writer Willy Russell and actress Pauline Collins, Shirley Valentine emerges as one of the most charming mid-life crisis sagas ever. The plot revolves around a 42-year-old Liverpudlian housewife who's tired of talking to her kitchen wall. She leaves her husband with two weeks of frozen dinners and flies away to Greece with a friend. On the sunny island of Mykonos, Shirley confronts her fears of the unknown and successfully resists sliding back into her safe, predictable world. The best thing about Shirley's new adventures is the way the writer shows that she isn't running away from herself, only unpeeling the layers of muck that have separated her from her own bright, rebellious spirit. A delightful young actress named Gillian Kearney portrays Shirley as an impish schoolgirl alienated from the class kissy, Marjorie (also well played by Catherine Duncan). Years later, Shirley meets Marjorie, now a high-class call girl played by Joanna Lumley, and is surprised to note how well they get along. It's one of the film's best moments, perfectly capturing the pointless mutual envy that circumvents many friendships between women. Shirley has detached sympathy for the snobbish neighbor Julia McKenzie, for Greek native Tom Conti (?!), who always uses the same pickup lines, and even for her husband Bernard Hill. In fact, the only person who seems to be under major attack in Willy Russell's script is the self-styled feminist portrayed by Alison Steadman. This “feminist” has her politically correct lingo down cold, but her rhetoric has nothing to do with what she feels or does. Shirley wisely recognizes a B.S. artist when she sees one and shoves her in the direction of the most boring tourists on the island. With “friends” like that, it's best to make friends with yourself, says Russell. In her first major feature, Pauline Collins fulfills the promise of her early performance as the feisty Sarah in the Upstairs, Downstairs television series. She has an honest face and an honest body (for once, no one asked the leading lady to go on a diet). Russell's sharp script is a blessing, but Pauline Collins is the main reason why this movie will remain a glowing memory long after you see Shirley Valentine.

1989 108m/C GB Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Alison Steadman, Julia McKenzie, Joanna Lumley, Bernard Hill, Sylvia Syms, Gillian Kearney, Catherine Duncan; D: Lewis Gilbert; W: George Hadjinassios, Willy Russell; C: Alan Hume; M: Willy Russell. British Academy Awards ‘89: Best Actress (Collins); Nominations: Academy Awards ‘89: Best Actress (Collins), Best Song (“The Girl Who Used to Be Me”). VHS, LV, 8mm, Closed Caption