Looking back now, the whole concept of Miss World seems odd. Back when I was a kid though it was one of the annual staples of British TV, just like the Eurovision Song Contest or The Boat Race, and it attracted huge audiences. ‘Misbehaviour’ is set around the 1970 competition which turned out to be the most watched TV show of the year.
Organiser Eric Morley (Rhys Ifans) is treating this like any other year, but finds himself under fire from the anti apartheid movement for allowing a white Miss South Africa to enter and from a group of female activists who believe that the competition exploits women. The latter group form a plan to gain entry to the show and disrupt it with a demonstration.
Largely sticking close to the facts, this is a tremendously enjoyable film. It also manages to avoid any preachiness, whilst clearly showing what an outdated and demeaning contest it was. Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) comes off particularly badly as the guest host who is on stage when the women make their presence known. His performance was already embarrassingly bad, and his subsequent comments show him in an even worse light.
All done with a light touch, with top performances from an excellent cast that is headed by Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha Raw, and the terrific Jessie Buckley. With the likes of Keeley Hawes, Lesley Manville, Miles Jupp and Alexa Davies in minor roles, the acting is pretty faultless.
Denied the success it deserved in the cinema, hopefully ‘Misbehaviour’ will find an audience with home viewers.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10