movie minute

Mum's the word: A dissatisfied preacher's wife who looks to her golf coach for an affair; an absent-minded preacher who is more focused on God than his own family; a teenage daughter who has a new boyfriend almost everyday; a prepubescent male who is bullied each day at school. All of these combined make up the delightful and funny film, Keeping Mum (Rated R). Enter seemingly kind and gentle Grace Hawkins to bring the family together and get them on the right path. Once Grace appears, however, the population (57) of the town of English town of Little Wallop starts decreasing. Dame Maggie Smith plays Grace who becomes the housekeeper of the Goodfellow family and starts helping each family member rediscover themselves. Kristin Scott Thomas plays Gloria Goodfellow, the preacher's wife. Meanwhile, Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean himself) plays the Rev. Walter Goodfellow. This is a very nice and subdued role for Atkinson; it was refreshing to see him in this kind of role. Of course, there is a bit of Atkinson's comedic shtick thrown in for good measure as well as a bit of murder. I didn't expect the plot twist near the end (I should have seen it coming) but the film is well cast and while it is fairly predictable, it's a nice little movie to see on a rainy day.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 3.50

paul