MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS d: Stephen Frears
Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
Director: Stephen Frears. Screenplay: Martin Sherman. Cast: Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Kelly Reilly
Directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Martin Sherman, Mrs. Henderson Presents is an unabashedly old-fashioned star vehicle for Judi Dench, even if in a role made to order for Maggie Smith. Once I got past the fact that I was watching Dame Judi instead of Dame Maggie, Mrs. Henderson Presents actually became quite enjoyable in a fluffy, fluttery kind of way.
As the Mrs. of the title, Dench is an eccentric, self-centered rich widow who decides she wants to renovate the decrepit Windmill Theatre, turning it into a art nude revue during World War II. Bob Hoskins plays the theater’s director and Mrs. Henderson’s ambivalent antagonist. Although Dench and Hoskins don’t have quite the same chemistry as, say, Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, the two play off of each other with ease.
True enough, Mrs. Henderson Presents is no masterpiece and its charms feel more than a little coy at times, but overall the film is a pleasant bit of risqué nostalgia and it’s certainly much more enjoyable than the dreary 1945 Rita Hayworth vehicle Tonight and Every Night, which is set in a fictitious — and more prudish — version of the Windmill.
Reviewed at the AFI FEST 2005
Comments
Leave a Reply
NOTE:
All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but courtesy is imperative. Rude/crass/bigoted comments and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.
Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
