Merrick here...

Marius sent in another look at MISS POTTER, starring Zellweger and McGregor. We ran a review of this a few weeks back; ‘twas enthusiastic.

It’s about Beatrix Potter, who created Peter Rabbit. It’ll be released limitedly (is that a word?) the end of December; you can catch a trailer HERE.

Don’t know much about Peter Rabbit; always been partial to WIND IN THE WILLOWS. I’m not sure why I’m mentioning this because WITW doesn’t have a rabbit as a main character. It has a badger, though. I wonder who would win in a fight: Mr. Badger from WITW or Mr. Beaver from NARNIA? Aren’t badgers and beavers pretty much the same? Would they be evenly matched?

Here’s Marius…

Greetings! I have been a longtime fan of AICN, but never had the opportunity to send in a review of a film, as I have never actually gotten my hot little hands on tickets to a preview screening. Until now!

Last night, I saw an advance screening of the film "Miss Potter" here in New York City. Frankly, I was tired after a rather trying day at work, and not sure if I was really in the mood for what looked like it might be a rather genteel and twee flick about a children's book author about whose life I was not exactly burning to know more. Genteel it was, but I have to say I found it immensely enjoyable, if somewhat flawed.

The film relates the story of Beatrix Potter, and centers around the creation of her beloved children’s book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and how the enormous success of its publication changed her life. During the course of the movie, we see how Beatrix began to develop the characters in "Peter Rabbit" during childhood summers in the idyllic Lake District of England; we learn details about her changing relationship with her doting father and her imperious, overly social-status-conscious mother; and we see her ill-fated romance with her publisher, Norman Varne, play out to its sad conclusion. (Though this is no feel-bad movie.)

The film itself moves at a remarkable clip. The scenes are fast-paced, and the direction was far from the stately, languid pace of a Merchant/Ivory film, which was what I expected going into the film. In fact, the pacing was so quick, that sometimes I found that we were moving from event to event so fast that I would have enjoyed a little breather now and then! But it certainly was far from boring. One of the lovely things in the film was the (sparing) use of animation to bring Potter’s characters to life. I had read about this and had my doubts about it, but I found it to be a very effective tool in showing us how important and real these characters were to their creator.

The movie seemed a little unfocussed to me.

MINOR SPOILER ALERT

The story of Potter and Varne’s romance comes to its end a good ½ hour before the end of the movie, and suddenly, the movie turns into a tract for preserving nature as we see Beatrix becoming quite the conservationist in the face of encroaching development of England’s farmland. It was a rather odd shift to suddenly have so much emphasis on this part of Beatrix’s life, though we do see how nature was such a crucial inspiration to her in the creation of her various works. I thought the screenplay could have prepared us for this new chapter in her life a little bit better. That being said, the cinematography in some of these final scenes was breathtaking, and at the end of the movie I was ready to pack my bags and take off for an extended visit to England’s lake country.

As you might imagine, the performances were what really made this film. I have mixed feelings about Renee Zellweger (she really does look like she’s constantly sucking on a lemon, and it’s extremely distracting at times) but I thought she gave a lovely performance here as Beatrix Potter. As Norman Varne, Ewan McGregor was wonderful, as always. (It was interesting to see these two play perfectly prim Edwardian characters after last seeing them as sparring partners in the naughty, double-entendre-fest that was "Down With Love", a movie I quite enjoyed as well.) Barbara Flynn as Beatrix’s mother is a hoot, and venerable English actress Matyelock Gibbs gives a very funny performance in a small, almost silent role as Miss Wiggin, Beatrix’s chaperone.

The best performance, however, belongs to Emily Watson, who is both saucy and touching as Norman Varne’s perpetually unmarried sister. She doesn’t have that many scenes, but she definitely stands out in an excellent ensemble cast. Really, Emily Watson needs to be in more major films!
All in all, this is a very entertaining film, and if you are looking for a pleasantly unchallenging afternoon at the movies, this would be the film to see!

If you use this, please just call me – Marius.