Review of Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) by Tino P — 20 Aug 2012
The recently widowed Mrs. Henderson has no idea what to do with her life and her vast amount of cash. Her friend suggests she gets herself a hobby, and after pricking her finger doing some embroidery she instead decides to buy a rundown theatre.
She hires theatre manager Bob Hoskins to take over and run a musical review which all goes fine and dandy until everyone copies them. They decide to do something more daring and so have nudes on the stage.
The film has the classical polite British putdowns and absurd but brilliant satirical moments. The nudes are not allowed to move, because then it's art. The musical numbers are quite fun and inventive and the verbal fisticuffs between Dench and Hoskins is brilliant.
They each give us a warm but strict character and there is a lot of chemistry, which makes it even more interesting when the film shrugs off the romance angle between the pair. In the latter half after the war kicks off the film inevitably loses some of its warm colourful charm, but reflects the time period accordingly.
A great supporting cast, especially Guest in a hilarious role, bring alive those little moments. A joyful feel good movie that gives a lot of heart.
This review of Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) was written by Tino P on 20 Aug 2012.
Mrs. Henderson Presents has generally received positive reviews.
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