lee_eisenberg Review of Shirley Valentine

Shirley Valentine (1989)

If they make you run around like R2D2, there's only one thing that you can do.

[10/10 · 10 October 2007]

If you thought that Lewis Gilbert did a good job focusing on a woman in "Educating Rita", wait until you see "Shirley Valentine". This story of an abused Liverpool wife (Pauline Collins) who gets fed up and goes on vacation to Greece does everything perfectly. It very much has the feeling of a play, what with the characters talking directly to the camera occasionally (after she goes to Greece, her husband (Bernard Hill of the "Lord of the Rings" movies) talks to the camera and you can see around him how the house is turning into a mess). And they did a great job adapting it to the screen. Whether it's Shirley's talk about a her previous mispronunciation of a certain body part, or her rip at the people badmouthing Greece, this is one of the coolest movies that I've ever seen. Also starring Tom Conti and Joanna Lumley.