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Clothes in the Wardrobe (1993) (TV)

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Charming Catalyst, 27. Dezember 2000

Author: taita von Wellington New Zealand

This story can take a bit of work in places, and needs your full attention, but it is worth it. There are scenes in Egypt that are not overly clear or explained but are responsible for the state of mind of the young bride in the story.

Through an acute case of apathy, Margaret has become engaged to the boy next door (David Threlfall). He is not however every mothers dream for her daughter in fact even his own Mother (Joan Plowright) is less than enthused about him on occasion.

The wedding is planned and guests start arriving in town. One of these is the exotic Lili (Jeanne Moreau), an old friend of the brides mother (Julie Walters). She spends her time prior to the wedding with Margaret and her mother and also reacquainting herself with the grooms mother (Joan Plowright). The latter objective having a little awkward history behind it.

The relationship that develops between these two veteran actors is a delight to watch. I have not seen Joan Plowright in anything where I haven't enjoyed her performance.

Lili has already decided that this wedding is a big mistake. Even the bride knows this. So steps should perhaps be taken to prevent it. The denouement brought about by Lili is magic, but then Lili is a most charming catalyst.

It would be easy to like this story simply because of the resolution that Lili brings to the problem, it is indeed unforgettable. But the movie is more than that. The title refers to Nuns habits. Literally. The custom was to wear one have one in the wash and one in the wardrobe. This is how Lili discovers what sort of bride Margaret really wants to be.

I found that I couldn't empathise with the bride in this story, how can you relate to someone who would allow themselves to marry the obnoxious Syl Munro (David Threlfall), but I revelled in the performance of Lili.

Watch and Enjoy

2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Marvelous veteran acting barely succeeds in overcoming annoyingly slow pacing and hard-to-follow segues, 28. April 2002

Author: herbqedi von New York, NY

I rented this movie because of the promise of Julie Walters, Joan Plowright, and Jeanne Moreau co-starring in a comedy. And indeed, Moreau and Plowright are absolutely marvelous. Walters does better than the script deserved with the thankless role of the bride's cheerful-but-none-too-bright mother. The plot moves at a snail's pace, and Moreau telegraphs her role in the movie's delicious conclusion in the film's first 30 minutes. If this sign of things to come was to prevent us from turning off the movie in utter boredom during its first half it succeeded. When the always magnificent John Wood comes in as Moreau's ex-husband things pick up a bit.

But, Anna Headey as the bride is way too winsome and enigmatic and distant. The result is that we are annoyed by her total lack of backbone and will in handling the fact that she is engaged to a man she doesn't love, and does not wish to marry. There is more to this than meets the eye, but Ms. Headey fails to even give us a glimpse of any depth at all. She remains fatalistic and a resigned victim even though none of her relatives are pressuring her to marry. The actor (Helgast?) playing her fiance, Syl, is brilliantly feckless and cloying. But, Headey gives both him and Waters precious little to play off in their scenes together.

Overall, i give this 6 out of 10, certainly worth sticking with once you've started since the second half is much better than the first. Also, in fairness, it probably seemed even more remote to me, as a Yank, because of many cultural references with which I was unfamiliar. I would imagine that people from Croydon would find much more to revel in than I did, particularly if they ever lived, or had any relatives who ever lived, in Egypt.

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