Merle Streep is coming back with yet another Mama Mia, the movie version of the Broadway musical. Now it hasn’t hit the theaters yet but this is pretty much the same cast and they haven’t gotten any younger and in my opinion were pretty dismal to start with in the first movie. The first time around, I took the bait because of Pierce Brosnon but this time I’m more than likely going to pass. Having said that, I recently saw the amazing one woman play, Shirley Valentine in our local Regional Theater and it was absolutely wonderful. So, I’m here to say, don’t spend your movie money on Mama Mia, rent, stream or buy the movie version of Shirley Valentine, you’ll be glad you did.
Shirley Valentine is about a 45-year-old Liverpool matron who decides it’s finally time to do what she wants to do for a change. Trapped in a humdrum existence, Shirley Valentine (British actress, Pauline Collins) wonders when she lost her hopeful, youthful self. Isolated and lonely, she talks to the wall in her kitchen. No one seems to really notice her including her well meaning but demanding husband (Bernard Hill), her snooty neighbor (Julia McKenzie), or her self-absorbed grown children (Tracie Bennett and Gareth Jefferson). About now, you are thinking, “I’ve never heard of any of these actors,” but that’s okay, go with me here because the film was made across the pond in 1989 and it’s good.
Jane (Alison Steadman), a divorced friend, wins a two-week vacation to Greece in a magazine contest and asks Shirley to accompany her. After much soul searching, Shirley leaves her husband behind with a post-it note on a Greece travel poster behind the pantry door (next to the wall she talks to) that simply says, “Gone to Greece be back in 2 weeks.” Her vacation gets off to a rocky start when Jane meets a man on the flight over and doesn’t show back up for several days and Shirley finds herself talking to a rock on the beach. The sun-drenched islands are all she dreamed and although she does have a romantic “fling” with a Greek tavern owner (Tom Conti), the real surprise of the trip is her inward journey towards finding the Old Shirley.
As always, producer/director Lewis Gilbert has done an amazing job transforming this award winning one woman (also played by Collins) stage play into an exotic and heartfelt film. He impresses us with his unique fly-by cinematography, beautifully displaying the lidos and sandbars of the Aegean Sea, but the major triumph of this warm, witty, and buoyant comedy is Pauline Collins’s depiction of Shirley Valentine.
This story was award winning back in the 80s and I found it timeless today. Shirley Valentine’s irrepressible spunk will win you over whether she’s squaring off against the master of the house, responding to her daughter’s put-downs, experiencing the dizziness of sex, or telling off some boorish British tourists. In the end, you will cheer Shirley as she learns to love just being Shirley Valentine once again.
Meryl Streep, move over, Shirley Valentine is back and she’s not trying to carry a tune! This movie, or even the stage play for that matter, will make your heart sing, but unlike most of the movies I review it’s probably not kid friendly, so watch it when the kids or grandkids are tucked in bed—just don’t wake them with your laughter!
As always, I welcome your comments at Carolyn@carolynhastings.com.
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