"Keeping Mum" takes the position that a family in crisis does not need a Dr. Phil or a Dr. Ruth; it needs an ax murderer. Since we haven't enjoyed a genteel English dark comedy in ever so long, it's fun to revisit the genre and even more fun to do so in the company of Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze. With a strong promotional push from ThinkFilm, "Keeping Mum" should attract a fair number of over-25 admirers of English comedy to sophisticated art houses.
Remarkably, this movie did not start out as an English comedy. The original screenplay was written by American novelist Richard Russo, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Empire Falls", inspired the HBO mini-series and who penned the screenplay for Harold Ramis' "The Ice Harvest". English director Niall Johnson adapted Russo's script to a bucolic English country-village setting of idyllic charm and quaintness, and somehow it all works.
Johnson has slyly given many place and personal names double meanings. For instance, the sleepy parish of Little Whallop has no trouble living up to its name. Gloria (Thomas), the desperate housewife of the town's vicar, Walter Goodfellow (Atkinson), suffers sexual frustration since her husband has seriously misplaced or lost interest in his goodfellow. So much so that a dalliance with Lance (Swayze), her oily American golf instructor, looks increasingly necessary though of course extremely foolish.
Meanwhile, daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) decorates a different boyfriend seemingly every other day. And son Petey (Toby Parkes) finds himself the target of school bullies. What the family needs to set things right is a touch of Grace (Smith), the new housekeeper who arrives with an ominous leather trunk.
Four decades ago, as a perky young woman, Grace was hauled off a train by police with that same trunk leaking blood. The source of these fluids turned out to be the dismembered bodies of her philandering husband and his mistress. Grace has only recently secured her release from a prison for the criminally insane despite the fact that the one point she and her psychiatrist could not agree upon was the use of violence to solve interpersonal problems.
So, not unexpectedly, an obnoxious barking dog, a nosy neighbor and a school bully turn up missing or dead. When Grace gets wind of Lance's intentions, his continuing good health is most definitely in jeopardy. What makes these murders go down ever so lightly is the fact that all this dreadful business takes place between perfectly brewed cups of tea and the most courteous of manners.
However, not all problems require physical exertion: When the vicar struggles to write an opening address to an upcoming religious convention that is not "dry and boring," Grace suggests a touch of humor. Soon enough, Walter is surfing the Net for sites like "Giggle With God" in search of good religious jokes.
The actors all strike just the right tone to carry off the black comedy. Atkinson, of course, has made a career out of playing comic distraction with brilliance. Here is no exception as his Walter Goodfellow notices almost nothing of life around him. On the other hand, Smith's Grace notices everything. She is the soul of practicality and sympathy -- to the point one can easily overlook her single character flaw.
Thomas displays hitherto underutilized comedic talents to explore sexual frustration that has reached the point where it overwhelms good sense. Swayze is pure id, without possessing any good sense to be overwhelmed. Egerton's nymphomaniac daughter sees boyfriends as her point of rebellion against stifling social and familial conformity.
Cinematographer Gavin Finney and designer Crispian Sallis create a magical English village out of locations in Cornwall and the Isle of Man.
"Mum" is not likely to attract many teens, but that R rating still grates. A softer R is hard to imagine. A few naughty words and momentarily bare breasts result in a rating equal to "The Wild Bunch". How silly is that?
KEEPING MUM
ThinkFilm
Summit Entertainment/Isle of Man/Azure Films present a Tusk production
Credits:
Director: Niall Johnson
Screenwriters: Richard Russo, Niall Johnson
Story by: Richard Russo
Producers: Julia Palau, Matthew Payne
Executive producers: Steve Wilkinson, Anne Sheehan, Steve Christian, Marc Samuelson, Bertil Ohlsson, David Garrett
Director of photography: Gavin Finney
Production designer: Crispian Sallis
Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
Co-producer: Nigel Wooll
Costumes: Vicki Russell
Editor: Robin Sales
Cast:
Walter Goodfellow: Rowan Atkinson
Gloria Goodfellow: Kristin Scott Thomas
Grace Hawkins: Maggie Smith
Lance: Patrick Swayze
Holly: Tamsin Egerton
Petey: Toby Parkes
Mrs. Parker: Liz Smith.
Running time -- 104 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Remarkably, this movie did not start out as an English comedy. The original screenplay was written by American novelist Richard Russo, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Empire Falls", inspired the HBO mini-series and who penned the screenplay for Harold Ramis' "The Ice Harvest". English director Niall Johnson adapted Russo's script to a bucolic English country-village setting of idyllic charm and quaintness, and somehow it all works.
Johnson has slyly given many place and personal names double meanings. For instance, the sleepy parish of Little Whallop has no trouble living up to its name. Gloria (Thomas), the desperate housewife of the town's vicar, Walter Goodfellow (Atkinson), suffers sexual frustration since her husband has seriously misplaced or lost interest in his goodfellow. So much so that a dalliance with Lance (Swayze), her oily American golf instructor, looks increasingly necessary though of course extremely foolish.
Meanwhile, daughter Holly (Tamsin Egerton) decorates a different boyfriend seemingly every other day. And son Petey (Toby Parkes) finds himself the target of school bullies. What the family needs to set things right is a touch of Grace (Smith), the new housekeeper who arrives with an ominous leather trunk.
Four decades ago, as a perky young woman, Grace was hauled off a train by police with that same trunk leaking blood. The source of these fluids turned out to be the dismembered bodies of her philandering husband and his mistress. Grace has only recently secured her release from a prison for the criminally insane despite the fact that the one point she and her psychiatrist could not agree upon was the use of violence to solve interpersonal problems.
So, not unexpectedly, an obnoxious barking dog, a nosy neighbor and a school bully turn up missing or dead. When Grace gets wind of Lance's intentions, his continuing good health is most definitely in jeopardy. What makes these murders go down ever so lightly is the fact that all this dreadful business takes place between perfectly brewed cups of tea and the most courteous of manners.
However, not all problems require physical exertion: When the vicar struggles to write an opening address to an upcoming religious convention that is not "dry and boring," Grace suggests a touch of humor. Soon enough, Walter is surfing the Net for sites like "Giggle With God" in search of good religious jokes.
The actors all strike just the right tone to carry off the black comedy. Atkinson, of course, has made a career out of playing comic distraction with brilliance. Here is no exception as his Walter Goodfellow notices almost nothing of life around him. On the other hand, Smith's Grace notices everything. She is the soul of practicality and sympathy -- to the point one can easily overlook her single character flaw.
Thomas displays hitherto underutilized comedic talents to explore sexual frustration that has reached the point where it overwhelms good sense. Swayze is pure id, without possessing any good sense to be overwhelmed. Egerton's nymphomaniac daughter sees boyfriends as her point of rebellion against stifling social and familial conformity.
Cinematographer Gavin Finney and designer Crispian Sallis create a magical English village out of locations in Cornwall and the Isle of Man.
"Mum" is not likely to attract many teens, but that R rating still grates. A softer R is hard to imagine. A few naughty words and momentarily bare breasts result in a rating equal to "The Wild Bunch". How silly is that?
KEEPING MUM
ThinkFilm
Summit Entertainment/Isle of Man/Azure Films present a Tusk production
Credits:
Director: Niall Johnson
Screenwriters: Richard Russo, Niall Johnson
Story by: Richard Russo
Producers: Julia Palau, Matthew Payne
Executive producers: Steve Wilkinson, Anne Sheehan, Steve Christian, Marc Samuelson, Bertil Ohlsson, David Garrett
Director of photography: Gavin Finney
Production designer: Crispian Sallis
Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
Co-producer: Nigel Wooll
Costumes: Vicki Russell
Editor: Robin Sales
Cast:
Walter Goodfellow: Rowan Atkinson
Gloria Goodfellow: Kristin Scott Thomas
Grace Hawkins: Maggie Smith
Lance: Patrick Swayze
Holly: Tamsin Egerton
Petey: Toby Parkes
Mrs. Parker: Liz Smith.
Running time -- 104 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/29/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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