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Miss Potter, 2006
Grade: A-
Highlights: a) This is the true (and interesting!) story of Beatrix Potter. b) Reneé Zellweger’s acting.
Profanity: None
Violence: None
Sexual Situations: None
Recommended for: Preteens and Adults. Women and girls will enjoy it most.
Pdad and I took a break from the neverending “Christmas is almost here” to do list last night to spend some peaceful moments cuddling and watching a movie. We had a nice time. I liked the movie a great deal and while this chick flick won’t go to the top of Pdad’s favorites, he enjoyed it enough to talk about it afterwards. I would strongly recommend this film if you haven’t seen it yet.
Miss Potter is the story of Beatrix Potter of Peter Rabbit fame. The tagline of the movie is: “the life of Beatrix Potter is the most enchanting tale of all.” While it doesn’t deserve the superlative “most enchanting,” it is certainly an interesting story. Beatrix was a woman before her time, but had a family, particularly a mother, firmly rooted in the social expectations of that time. The movie begins with Beatrix bravely making her first foray to publishing houses. At 32, she craves the independence that life as an unmarried daughter in a wealthy household does not offer. Fortunately, at a time when women did not have accomplishments of their own, Beatrix is an accomplished woman; her abilities offer a rare path to the independence she seeks.
However, she can’t get there on own her own. The publishers haven’t seen books like Beatrix’s before and are convinced it will be a commercial failure. “A bunny with brass buttons?” Enter Norman Warne, the younger brother of the publishers. Like Beatrix, he has something to prove. Does he have a future in publishingor does he belong at home with his mother? Norman becomes Beatrix’s avenue to the independence she seeks, but also, perhaps another threat to it when their working partnership becomes a romantic one. In addition to her desire to have an occupation, Beatrix’s interest in Norman is a source of conflict with her mother. While Mrs. Potter hesitates to have tradespeople even visit her home: “they bring dust”; Beatrix doesn’t care about marrying within her own social class.
It is not just the interesting story that makes this a good movie. There is also the talent of Reneé Zellweger. In one of the interviews included as a special feature on the DVD, someone mentioned her perfectionism and how thoroughly she becomes the characters she portrays. This observation certainly held true about her work in this movie. I was impressed with Reneé’s super-expressive face and her ability to help me feel a part of Beatrix’s emotional life.
I was surprised to see that Netflix marked this movie as “iffy for [ages] 10+.” Although the timing didn’t work out this time, I would definitely allow Amelia (age 9) to see it. It is about the cleanest movie you can imagine. The Netflix iffy rating seemed based mainly on the fact that there is a great deal of conflict between Beatrix and her parents, but I think this would simply be good fodder for parent child discussion.
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