Shirley Valentine (1989)

Director

• Lewis Gilbert

Starring

• Pauline Collins
• Tom Conti
• Julia McKenzie
• Alison Steadman
• Joanna Lumley

Last On

16:30-18:40 Sun 5th Sep 2021 140m
Five

Synopsis

This is the movie that brought cinema stardom to Pauline Collins at an age when actresses are often resigned to sitcom suburbia. Collins's performance as the long-suffering housewife who decamps to a Greek island and Tom Conti is quite sublime and carefully crafted. Director Lewis Gilbert manages to retain the best of Willy Russell's theatrical devices - Collins talking to the kitchen wall, for instance - while opening out the action to embrace a big-screen atmosphere. The supporting cast, particularly Bernard Hill as Collins's Neanderthal husband, is equally convincing, with only the hammy Conti (glistening teeth and appalling accent) striking a momentary false note.