In the period-set (just before World War II) Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, Frances McDormand plays Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess who finds herself unemployable after three previous employers fired her for various reasons that were probably more their problems than hers.
After an unfortunate incident on a windy street involving her clothes and a collision with a man just let out of prison, she goes to the employment agency with hope for a new job. She is summarily turned away by the woman in charge who cites the possibility of another war breaking out, coupled with her recent bad notices as the reasons for her being unsuitable for any future job openings.
Already hungry and rather desperate, Miss Pettigrew steals the business card of a potential employer before she leaves the employment agency. And thus embarks on a day-long fantastic adventure.
The client in question is the flighty yet far from innocent blonde actress Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams) as is quickly learnt by Miss Pettigrew when she is sent upstairs to awaken a boy much older than she was expecting.
Delysia requires a social secretary, not a governess, and from the range of messes she is required to clear up before eleven in the morning it becomes quickly clear to Miss Pettigrew that Ms Lafosse's social life is one of constant upheaval.
What unfolds thereafter is a whirlwind tour for the dowdy Miss Pettigrew through the romantic misadventures and social tomfoolery that hides just below the surface of London society's sophisticated veneer. Along the way she is given a makeover and encounters a charming male suitor (Ciaran Hinds) who offers the seductive possibility of love for herself.
Both McDormand and Adams play women out of their depth, and their performances, combined with the writing and Bharat Nalluri's deft direction, elevate this piece beyond mere movie-of-the-week status on any premium television channel.
McDormand plays the bemused governess-turned-social secretary with just the right mix of pathos and spine so that we sympathise with her plight as a starving, unemployable woman with questionable fashion sense, without her ever having to say too much.
Nothing illustrates the strength of Miss Pettigrew's character better than the scene in which a lavish spread is offered up for her consumption and she refuses it because at that moment, due to the progress of a certain set of events, the last thing she can think of is feeding herself.
On the other hand, Adams seems to channel every ditsy blonde to have ever graced a movie screen or magazine cover in the period between the 30s and the 60s to the extent that it would be easy to assume that this is exactly how Marilyn Monroe would have played the role of desperate-beneath-her-broad-smile Delysia.
The two leading ladies are ably supported by Lee Pace (television's Pushing Daisies), Mark Strong (Syriana) and Tom Payne (Wuthering Heights) as the three men in Delysia's life while Hinds and Shirley Henderson add depth to Miss Pettigrew's tale.
As period romps go, Miss Pettigrew (which is based on a 1938 novel by the English author Winifred Watson) is less an excuse to wallow in fantastic period detailing and costumed melodrama, and more an opportunity to explore light-hearted comedy in a surprisingly economical package.
Desi-born director Bharat Nalluri does well with this comedy of manners and egos and places the story solidly within its period while simultaneously relating it to the world we live in today.
There are movies that seem too long and those that feel woefully short. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is neither. In length, scope, tone and scale, it is just right. Those that seek smart entertainment would do well to put down some dinero for movies like this one.
Rediff Rating: 
