Mrs. Henderson Presents

source: Mrs. Henderson Presents

"Mrs. Henderson Presents" boasts talent galore: Oscar-winning Judy Dench, Martin Sherman, Stephen Frears, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Guest ... and yet it's a dishonest, irritatingly self-congratulatory little exercise for an as yet under-served demographic -- Judy Dench / * fans. Given this movie, I hope that that demographic never develops any box office clout. It's rare that you see a film where not a single moment contains any truth. This movie isn't so much a reference to real life, as to other movies. In fact, I'm convinced that Judy Dench, a flesh and blood human being, never actually appears in this film. The filmmakers made use of, instead, the animatronic Judy Dench from a Disneyland display. Dench has never been so much a parody of herself, is what I'm saying. The script is similarly animatronic. Arch, supercilious, a parody of how arch and supercilious upper class Brits can be. The script is so brittle and dry you could use it as kindling. Is what I'm saying. And then there's the dishonesty. Look. This is a movie about a theater that put on girlie shows, and made money thereby. And that's it. And the movie telegraphs this message that girlie shows are the highest moral good in the universe. If you want to be like Buddha and achieve Nirvana, if you want to be like Christ and give lepers skin as smooth as a baby's best feature, if you want to be like Gandhi ... hire some starving young girls to show you their breasts in exchange for minimum wage. That's the whole message of "Mrs. Henderson Presents," and it is so self-righteous and self-congratulatory it is nauseating. You could use this film in place of ipecac. And, yes, the girls are starving. It's post Depression, wartime England. As they remove their clothes, Judy Dench, or her animatronic stand-in, sits in an audience with Bob Hoskins, mocking their breasts: "scrambled eggs," she says. Hoo hoo. Ha, ha. Jeez, I love movies that tell me that making fun of desperate women exchanging a glimpse at their naked bodies for cash to buy lunch is the highest noble good. It gets worse. Really. Worse, I'm telling you, worse. One of the strippers, at Mrs. Henderson's encouragement, falls for a noble soldier, gets pregnant by him, and then dies in an air raid. Somehow this is proof of how noble running girlie shows is. And Mrs. Henderson, an elderly widow, spends the movie panting after a man she can never have, because he's married to somebody else. Okay, really. Explain this to me. Exactly for what audience was this movie made? Men who like to look at women's * aren't going to want to look at Judy Dench pining after a man she can't have -- are they? I mean, I've heard of shoe fetishes, leather ... but that has got to be a whole new * -- men who want to see Judy Dench smolder for a man she can never have, combined with stale, upper class British "humor," combined with strippers. Yuch. Yuch. Yuch. But I give it two points for Bob Hoskins, who deserved to be in a much better movie. Maybe, with all our new technology, he can be sliced out of this one, and spliced into another.

I've just seen this film and thought it was excellent - and Will Young does very well! The period detail, show tunes and production numbers are all very enjoyable and the story is by turns really funny and very sad and poignant. The previous reviewer does not seem to appreciate that a film about a theatre, which puts on shows, containing a singer... is bound to contain behind- the-scenes stuff, people rehearsing, people singing - the film, after all, is a film about a theatre! What else did he expect to see?! Don't let "peteranderson"'s poorly written review put you off - all he succeeds in doing is displaying a poor vocabulary (does he know no synonyms for "good"?!) and a dislike for Will Young, which says more about him than it does about the film or Will Young's performance.

What audience was this film made for? Why is the BBC's name on it? Who approved the script? Scotland Yard should be investigating these questions because this film is so criminally awful that somebody definitely should be sent to Abu Ghraib for it. Perhaps Bob Hoskins is the man responsible: judging by the credits, he seems to have been the main financier. But how did he talk Stephen Frears into it? And Judy Dench? Did they read the script? Or did they simply join on the strength of a two-page treatment? Perhaps we should have removed the DVD and returned it when we saw "UK Film Finance" among the credits. They have wasted taxpayers' money on hundreds of losers. The script is an utter stinker. It's hard to think of a more spurious subject to alight upon in the range of challenging topics offered by the late 1930s and early 1940s, but the choice might have been comprehensible if there had been a story to tell, or attractive characters, or even a fascinating setting. Instead there is a frankly unpleasant relationship between two odious persons that does not develop. They shout at each other regularly, interrupting brief glimpses of breasts, and moments from screamingly awful musical routines, until the Second World War happens and their "service" becomes indispensable to the forces. With his money riding on it, you'd think Hoskins might have wanted to play a sympathetic character, instead of a poison-dwarf pornographer with one evil expression fixed on his face. Judy Dench must have loved the idea of Mrs Henderson approving * tableaux in her plaything-theatre, but failed to notice that her character is pathetically shallow. In fact, Mrs Henderson represents everything the working classes fought the Second World War to rid themselves of. With these ingredients, it's not surprising that the "comedy" is painfully unfunny: the Lord Chamberlain, for example, ceased to be a figure of fun when genuine rebels dismantled him about 50 years ago. His resuscitation here is as invigorating as cold fish. The film hit bottom when Mrs Henderson's friend made the "joke" about her military husband always advocating an attack in the rear. Very, very, very bad. Yes, someone should hang for this picture. OK, I admit, I could not endure watching the whole thing. I sat through the unfunny set-up. I sat through the appallingly gauche treatment of the nudity topic. I sat through the abandonment of any effort at telling a story and the flourishing of World War Two archive film as a desperate kiss-of-life for a dying picture. But after the bomb nearly wrecked the Windmill theatre, and one of the * women gave a V-sign the wrong way round (so that it meant F+++ off) whereupon the audience applauded her, I could not tolerate the nonsense one moment longer. Not just a stupid film that should never have been made, but an insult to the intelligence of the cinema audience. Don't rent it. Don't go anywhere near it.

Who would ever think a movie with such talented actors could go so wrong? Mrs Henderson's friend comments that women in their eighth decade are very similar to adolescents. That rings too true in this case. Mrs Henderson is boring and implausibly shallow. The sparks between her and Vivian Van Damme, played by Hoskins, are artificial and unpersuasive. None of the characters develops in any interesting way. The struggle to keep the revue open against sporadic and apparently random opposition by the Lord Chamberlain is not enough to sustain the story. The motivations of the filles de tableaux are not explored. No tension ever being created, there is none to be resolved. Ugh.

Magnificent performances from Bob Hoskins and Judi Dench make this the film of 2005. It is a fantastic example of British cinema doing what it does best. Combining a period setting with comedy, pathos and tragedy this is a film that takes you from tears to laughter in a matter of moments. Judi Dench's opening scene takes us from the sober and controlled environment of a pre-war aristocratic Englishman's funeral to a moment of pure emotional release in the apparent privacy of a rowing boat on an English river. Mrs Henderson copes with the loss of her father not by attending coffee mornings or charity functions, but by purchasing the Windmill Theatre and putting on a bawdy burlesque revue. Enter Bob Hoskins as Vivian Van Damm, the cigar smoking Dutch Jewish theatre manager. The two have a love hate relationship which is so well acted the chemistry between the two of them is electric. (possible spoiler) At one point Mrs Henderson approaches Vivian Van Damm after he has received news of the round up of Dutch Jews by the Nazis. This scene is underplayed which such sensitivity by both actors it elicited an emotional response in myself and all the people I was watching the film with. Excellent casting from Leo Davis. Kelly Reilly is the one to watch out for in 2006. Thelma Barlow and Christopher Guest were hilarious as Lady Conway and Lord Cromer. Martin Sherman script is clever, witty and deeply moving. I left with a tear in my eye and joy in my heart. Unmissable. And Will Young can act as well as sing.

I thought this was the worst movie I have seen in the cinema for about 6 years. It left me so little engaged that I was tempted to leave, and if I had asked my partner, I think we would have both left. Why was it so bad? The story was episodic and lacked character development to make you care about each of the episodes of the theatre's life. The dialogue was particularly stilted, with unconvincing delivery and timing. This brings me to the most disappointing part of the film - Judy Dench and Bob Hoskins delivering embarrassingly bad performances. Their appearances were quite self-indulgent, I would say, with a few embarrassing scenes, such as Judy Dench fanning herself lavishly in the mirror. I wonder if the director had the strength of character to direct, rather than just let these greats do their own thing. Will Young, the UK Pop Idol winner, was good as the Vaudeville star. Similarly, the stage sets were convincing and exciting. The outdoor sets were the opposite, and showed an obvious shortfall of funds. Overall, very disappointing.

One of the worst movies of this or any year. Stephen Frears proves yet again that he can make any actor or script look like garbage. Bob Hoskins is miscast; Judi Dench is always distinctive but wasted here. This is a movie that MGM wouldn't have shot to support their latest Grable release. I remember the Windmill. They don't even make the set look like the real thing. And it was a tit show for God's sake! What is the big deal? It was a sordid little girly show. Spare me the uplift unless it's in a bra. This movie makes less sense than the version shot in the 40s with, I think, B Stanwyck. Dreadful script. Worse direction. Poor performances. And camp design. Ugh.

I seem to be on a Judi Dench role this week, first having seen Ladies in Lavender and now Mrs. Henderson Presents. Such a lovely actress. Bob Hoskins is another favorite having played a wonderful part in the Dunera Boys, a lesser known but excellent movie. They were so well matched in this movie and all the other parts were played with equal professionalism. I really cannot fine any flaws in the film. I am a big fan of musicals so that might have helped and might put some people off, but the numbers were well staged. Enough wry wit, drama and storyline for most people. This is what I would term, a small film. No blood and guts, no massive video effects but rather old war footage, no massive attack scenes. Just a story about life during WW2 on the West End of London.

How to start on this spectacular film? The music is superb, Fenton did a sterling job in providing the score for this enthralling musical. Judi Dench sits, as always, perfectly in the role of rebellious Laura Henderson, and her rapport with Bob Hoskins gives a punch to the storyline. The stunning Kelly Reilly combines her English-rose appearance with wartime tenacity and delivers a truly believable and moving performance throughout. Will Young, a surprise casting for many, heads the musical cast with an almost scarily convincing performance as the energetic performer, Bertie. He's rightly received glowing reviews after his substantial appearance in the movie, most notably from Dench and Hoskins themselves - inspired casting by Frears. This film is a perfect example of typically British humour and attitudes, particular during WWII - In fact it's been a hit with many people from the era (when I went to see it I was surrounded not least by people of 60 and over who reacted to the film with raucous laughter and many a teary eye). I whole heartedly recommend this film to anyone with a love of music, comedy, history, Britain or simply bloody good acting.