Lord Emsworth and The Girl Friend is the finest short story in the English language. Wodehouse's genius is to make the everyday exceptional. His characters are believable, fully rounded and funny as characters not grotesques. Timothy Spall understands, as does Mark Williams. Even the young actors playing Gladys and Ern understand. So why, oh why, do we have the dreadful overacting of Jennifer Suanders and the imposition of the frankly embarrassing Jack Farthing, who just doesn't know what he is in (and his character isn't in the original story). The contraction of the story to one setting rather than the few in the original is fair enough and the story unfolds nicely. It's just the awful overacting that spoils. Wodehouse put it on the page. It's all there. Nothing needs adding. Just play it straight.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
