Mrs Harris Goes to Paris Movie Review: Contrived but charming feel-good entertainer

A still from Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
Cast: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Lucas Bravo, Rose Williams, Ellen Thomas, Lambert Wilson, Jason Isaacs, Anna Chancellor, Alba Baptista, Christian McKay
Director: Anthony Fabian
Rating: 3/5

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is an antiquated fluff piece, the third adaptation of the 1958 classic novel by Paul Gallico, originally titled Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris. Despite the obvious contrivances and fantasy bent, this film ensures a fun ride with a ‘Follow your dreams' construct that is so much more relevant today than it was in the period this film is set.

It's 1950s London and middle-class cockney charwoman Ada (Lesley Manville), has just learned that the husband who has been missing in action (and whom she hoped was alive) in World War II, for years, has been finally declared dead. Ever since she saw a Dior confection hanging in the wardrobe of one of her regular clients, Mrs. H has been yearning for one. So, after learning of her husband's death and coming into some money after taxes, she chucks aside complacency to make it to Paris and buy herself a Dior gown. That's when the real adventure begins…

A large part of the narrative is predictable. Her encounters with the snobbish Dior staff, the high-strung designer entourage, and esteemed big-ticket clients who look down on her, are obviously routine. Isabella Huppert plays the salon manager who at first is the villain, then transforms into a barely likable sort. Mrs. H even has the temerity to inspire a strike and get the Couturier to transition to a prêt-à-porter fashion line in order to shore up flagging, almost non-existent business. The tone and aesthetic here are very much British feel-good - something like one experienced in Merchant-Ivory productions or more recently ‘Downton Abbey' films. But this one is not only talking. There's situational humor and a strong dose of validating emotions.

It must be hard to believe that someone who scratches out living dusting shelves, is gonna be so inspirational but Lesley Manville, the lead actress who makes Mrs. H her own, does a fabulous job lending the character hope, belief, kindness, gentility, and tenacity to make this episode in Mrs. Harris' adventurous life worth watching.