Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Widescreen & Full Screen Edition)

This movie is just a breath of fresh air! A feel-good, rags-to-riches romantic comedy - the best kind in my opinion! Fantastic cast, fantastic plot, fantastic love story! Great music, great setting, great costumes, great humor! The story is just too sweet! True love can find you at any age and when you least expect it, and this movie is proof that one person can change your whole life for the better in just one day! Highly recommended!

I just finished watching this movie and I can tell you that there are several laugh-out-loud moments, and that the film overall is fantastic. You are drawn straight in to Miss Pettigrew's world and cannot help but sympathize with her lot in life, especially after the guy behind her bumps into her, throwing her food on the ground in the outdoor soup kitchen line. The poor girl thrusts herself unknowingly into a night of drama and fun in high society and is taken for a ride by the younger, more petty crowd around her. And of course, Ciaran Hinds saves the day with his dashing good looks and down-to-earth attitude about the impending war.
A movie well worth watching, whether you like comedy, romance, or a little historical drama.

Never heard of it, decided to give it a go on a rainy day.
Very pleasantly surprised, was a very good movie and fun to watch.
I definitely recommend it.

this movie is funny and sweet and endearing and stylish - a very good time, I bought it immediately after recieving it on Netflix

I almost gave up on this 90-minute film halfway through. I saw generally where it was going, and I thought the road there would be rather ordinary. It was more than ordinary.

Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a household servant whose employers never seem to measure up to her standards. And vice versa. Her employment agency has given up on her and she is about to be on the streets. But she finagles herself a job as "social secretary" to an aspiring actress. Said actress is trying to sleep her way to the top, with all the entaglements that entails, including rebuffing a man who is her true love. Miss Pettigrew, seemingly wholly out of her element, seems to rise to the occasion, helping straighten out the actress's personal life and introducing a new dimension to her own personal and professional life.

The movie is set in England on the verge of WWII. The music is authentic big band-era fare. The scenes are played with a light touch, never completely farcical, but often bordering on it. McDormand is excellent, as usual, as Pettigrew. McDormand is one of the most winning, genuine talents in the movies, and in lesser hands this movie could have been a dud.

To be fair, I must question the character development. The Miss Pettigrew at the end of the film has undergone a change which is not believable in the span of roughly 18 hours that the action covers. This is an inconsistency, but the film is rewarding in spite of it. I thought the film was going to be a one-note comedy about offending the sensibilities of the preacher's daughter Pettigrew. But she "loosens up" so quickly, by the end of the film it might seem as if she'd be shocked by nothing.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is superb light entertainment. It is worthwhile for McDormand's performance alone. This is a movie to watch when you want to relax and escape the cares of the world.