Shirley Valentine (1998) is one of those films that seemed to be massive in its day but is rarely mentioned now. It is heartening, though, that nearly 30 years after playing an older lady who finds love, Pauline Collins still has the chance to star in cinematically released films, and it is interesting how much the two films have in common.
She plays Priscilla, a pensioner in a loveless marriage to Frank (Ronald Pickup). Neither of them have recovered from the death of their young son 40 years before. Joan Collins co-stars as Helen, a former movie star now living a miserable life, broke and in an old peoples’ home. After a chance meeting, Priscilla agrees to visit France with Helen for the funeral of the film director responsible for Helen’s first hit film.
The set-up, then, is quite far-fetched and the film is pretty broad stuff. Joan Collins gives a typically flamboyant performance and the gags are far from subtle. Once in France, we even get a near miss because Priscilla is driving on the wrong side of the road. The film seems to be aimed squarely at the older market, which makes it a little odd that we are therefore shown full frontal male nudity and hear Helen dropping the f-bomb on a few occasions. However, both of those incidents tickled an old lady sitting near me, so what do I know!?
Director Roger Goldby cannot give this material much of a spark. He has mostly worked in television, and this film would probably have worked better as a 90 minute special at Christmas that you can settle down to with a glass of port and some After Eights rather than watch on a big screen.
The best part of the film is the performance of Joely Richardson as the daughter of the deceased director. Her sensitive, measured portrayal would have been more appropriate for a much better film than this passable time-waster.
Rating: 5 out of 10