Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I wanted to but couldn't!

Best movie ever!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I marked this review for spoilers, but I'd like to reiterate that I do spoil a major character ending further on in this review. Don't read after the next paragraph if you want to avoid.Watching Bob Hoskins and Judi Dench on screen together was, I admit, extremely satisfying. Their characters are fun and funny and they manage to make two characters with quite prickly exteriors very likable. Oh, and let me not forget the scenes with Dench and Christopher Guest, which range from cute to hysterical. As for the film itself, the music is good, the sets pretty, but I was in the end not very satisfied with it. Having said that, and before I go onto that rather large spoiler, I must note that I still rewatch it on occasion specifically because the flaw of the movie doesn't overpower my love of watching Dench, Hoskins and Guest, or the pleasure of the musical numbers, which are very nicely done, and from what I understand accurately reflect the sort of themes the real Van Damm created.Dench and Hoskins' storyline is good, but the side story of Maureen - and how it's worked into Dench's storyline - was just such too mawkish for my tastes. I dislike it when they kill off a character just to drag sentiment into a story - it just feels cheap and tends to dampen my enjoyment of a film when that happens. This was a pretty good example of that. There was no real reason for her storyline - her character was sweet, her scenes very pretty, but then she gets offed at the end just so Dench's character can make a pretty little speech that keeps the Windmill from closing down. That, for me, is what takes it from a movie I rate highly and recommend to friends to a movie that I watch for the good parts, but generally don't bother bringing up in recommendation discussions.

This movie pulls on the heartstrings even though the two leads are cantankerous old birds (Dench and Hoskins) who snipe at each other with great wit and energy. It tells the story of a Windmill Theatre in the London West End through incarnation after incarnation it is forced into to stay afloat. There is lots of music of many genres, dancing and female nudity, and more female nudity.WWII sneaks up on them. It is all the more horrible the way it imposes itself, hurting innocent people, even though nobody had any political or military interest.The movie ends with some Andrews sisters and Vera-Lynn style music affirming the war will end and they will prevail. Outside the streets are filled with rubble. The music is full of love and hope, nothing at all about getting even or killing the Germans.It focuses on the minor emotional trials of war, and less on being blown to bits. It is closer to ordinary life, and hence got under my skin more easily.The main problem with the movie is they treat the female actresses as furniture. Their sole job is to sit like statues (required by the Lord Chamberlain) stark naked. Bertie is only male dancer/singer. Yet we learn nothing of his private life. He is handsome and charming, so the lack of story seems odd. They could have clipped a few of the less spectacular dance numbers to drop a few hints.

Not awful but pretty damn boring and uninteresting. I feel compelled to write this brief review just to warn others - even though I have barely ever written reviews. Dench, Frears, Hoskins, Young? So much talent, you'd expect something decent. The story is boring, the intrigue not very intriguing and so on. There may be a historical benefit to watching this but I can't see it. Were it not for the odd body part, I wonder if the movie would have attracted so many to theatres. I can't see any saving grace and I wish I could.

In this historical recreation, a wealthy widow opens England's first theater to feature nude performers. Dench is wonderful as the eccentric widow who hires a temperamental manager (Hoskins) to run the theater but constantly clashes with him. In fact, the friction between the two feels somewhat contrived and overdone. The early parts of the film work best, marked by humor and playfulness, including a funny scene where Dench tries to make a case for the bare market to a conservative government official (Guest). Then comes World War II and the mood darkens, causing the middle of the film to drag a bit. The film is Rated R for scenes of horror (war violence and Hoskins naked).