Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

 7/10

Starring

Lesley Manville

Isabelle Huppert

Lambert Wilson

Alba Baptista

Lucas Bravo

 

Directed by Anthony Fabian

 

Fantastic movie with warm characters that you will be glad to see them smile when things start to go their way. Based on a 1958 novel Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico, this movie is done to go together with the French revolution and a sort of revolution in the business of Dior. This comedy-drama is about a widow who falls in love with a Christian Dior dress. Our lead is a beautiful gentle lady named Mrs Ada Harris. Ada is a cleaner who works for in numerous homes, cleaning and waiting for her husband who did not return from the second World War. Set sometime in the 50s, Ada has been waiting for years to hear from her husband or the RAF about his whereabouts, but sadly we witness her read the letter from the RAF that he must have died almost a decade ago.

The movies warmth comes in not just showing us a lady who just decided to go for a trip, but someone who decided to do something to make her happy. That is what makes this movie magnificent, we see as Ada Harris works as a cleaning lady, pulling money everywhere she can to get enough to buy a dream dress from her dream designer. The movie is not one that waste time on words which is what I liked most about it. The way the director decided to take Ada from someone going to the bar with her friends to someone scraping money together for a dress, this swift turn added some needed excitement and suspense. Then when she is close, she goes and does something out of the blue and again, a turn which I did not expect as she was up on her luck then down the next.

The pain and the loss of all hopes is another turn which took me by surprise. The movie’s pacing is well crafted to suit any viewer. There is an initial fast pace earlier on as the dress savings seems very close to completion, then the movie then trotted down to a soothing mellow pace and a shock bad luck had me throwing my arms in the air, because I did not expect that. Then from nowhere like 30-minutes into the movie we are on the plane to get this dress.

This movie for me is the needed drama for a good, nice tea and biscuit Sunday afternoon with your friends.