Main Cast: Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Alison Steadman, Julia McKenzie, Joanna Lumley
Release Year: 1989
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Since its London and Broadway stage debut, playwright Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine has proven an excellent showcase for any number of talented actresses (Loretta Swit won the 1989 Sarah Siddons Award for her work in the Chicago production). In the film version of Shirley Valentine, Pauline Collins re-creates the role that had previously brought her theatrical fame and a Tony Award. Spending the bulk of the film speaking directly to the audience, the titular Shirley (Collins), a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, reveals her innermost thoughts and fears in a manner that is both insouciant and poignant. Once an incorrigible anti-establishment rebel, Shirley now chafes under the plodding insensitivity of her husband Joe (Bernard Hill). Her life enters a new and exciting phase when, after her best friend Jane (Alison Steadman) wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece, Shirley is given the opportunity to travel to faraway places without her husband. Shirley Valentine represents the second felicitous collaboration between playwright Willy Russell and director Lewis Gilbert; the first was Educating Rita (1983). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The fact that Pauline Collins received an Oscar nomination for her work in Shirley Valentine may be more an indication of a weak 1989 field than her having turned in a virtuoso performance. In fact, the talking-to-the-viewer format, fairly natural as a stage device, is at times almost uncomfortable, especially with how heavily director Lewis Gilbert relies on it. Still, that this little-seen film adaptation of Willy Russell's beloved play could generate such acclaim was a sturdy approbation of Collins' intimate, confessional take on the title character, backed by a script of internal and external journeys that lead her to greater self-understanding and satisfaction. What makes it such a brave, interesting (albeit not commercially viable) work is that it focuses on the intangible dismays of a decidedly middle-aged, decidedly average woman. Watching her cavort in Grecian seas with half-naked men half her age is a delight best appreciated by viewers in similar need of reawakening, but one that translates to viewers of all ages and romantic histories. The overall impression of Shirley Valentine is of a fond character study astutely realized by Collins and Gilbert, but one that may be more at home in Russell's original domain nonetheless. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Shirley Valentine-Bradshaw is a fortysomethingLiverpudlian housewife whose family pays her so little attention she frequently talks to her kitchen walls in order to keep a conversation going. When her friend Jane wins a trip for two to Greece, Shirley uncharacteristically puts herself first and accepts her invitation to join her.
Upon their arrival in Mykonos, Jane abandons her companion for a romance with a Greek olive magnate. On her own and bored with the fellow Brits staying at her hotel, Shirley ventures forth in search of adventure and finds it in the form of Costas, a seductive taverna owner who brings her out of her shell. As their relationship develops, she finds herself taking stock of her life after years of marital neglect and mundane domesticity and rediscovering the woman she used to be. When her once-complacent husband Joe arrives on the island to bring her back to Liverpool, Shirley is forced to make the most important decision of her life.
Caryn James of the New York Times observed, "By adding all the characters and settings that Shirley only talks about on stage, the film reveals the weakness of Mr. Russell's script as surely as if a magician's clumsy assistant had pointed a finger at a secret trapdoor. Ms. Collins brings as much energy and warmth to the role as ever, but on screen the strength of her performance is shattered by being chopped into tiny, disconnected bits." [1]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film one star, calling it "a realistic drama of appalling banality." He added, "There were moments during the movie when I cringed at the manipulative dialogue as the heroine recited warmed-over philosophy and inane one-liners when she should have been allowed to speak for herself . . . Many of the sentiments in this film seem recycled directly from greeting cards . . . If there is a shred of plausibility in the film, it comes from Bernard Hill's performance as Shirley Valentine's husband. He isn't a bad bloke, just a tired and indifferent one, and when he follows his wife to Greece at the end of the film there are a few moments so truthful that they show up the artifice of the rest." [2]
Jow Brown of the Washington Post called the film "an uncommonly warm, relaxed little movie . . . without a cloying artificially-sweetened aftertaste." He continued, "The story's a bit of romantic whimsy, but it affords a great many comfortable and comforting laughs, and may even serve as a wake-up call for some." [3]
Variety called the film "uneven but generally delightful" and Pauline Collins "irresistible." [4]
Radio Times rated the film four out of five stars and added, "Lewis Gilbert manages to retain the best of Willy Russell's theatrical devices . . . while opening out the action to embrace a big-screen atmosphere. The supporting cast, particularly Bernard Hill as Collins's Neanderthal husband, is equally convincing, with only the hammy Conti (glistening teeth and appalling accent) striking a momentary false note." [5]
The film was released on Region 2 DVD on November 8, 2004, and the Region 1 DVD was released on May 1, 2007. It has audio tracks in English and French and subtitles in English. There are no bonus features.
