DOWNTON ABBEY (2019) – My rating: 10/10

Downton Abbey is a British period drama that represents the continuation of the BBC television series of the same name. The film is directed by Michael Engler and written by Julian Fellowes, who is also the creator and executive producer of the television series. Much of the original cast has returned as they perform the first Downton Abbey movie.  An official state visit by the British Monarchy to Downton Abbey upsets the entire staff and their way of life, as they bend over backward to please the King and  Queen of England. I found Downey Abbey to be one of the year’s best movie and I absolutely loved it.

****  SPOILERS BELOW  ****

Downton Abbey begins in 1927 when Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), the Earl of Grantham, receives a letter from Buckingham Palace announcing that King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) are coming to Downton Abbey as part of a royal tour through the country. Robert’s daughter, Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) and son-in-law, Tom Branson (Allen Leech) are the first to learn of the royal visit, which leads to Drama 1: The Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley, Dowager  (Maggie Smith), is perturbed that Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), will also be coming to Downton with the royal family. Lady Maud is Robert’s cousin and the two families have fallen out over Lady Maud choosing her personal maid, Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton) as her heir over Robert.  Drama 2: Occurs when the royal staff arrives, which includes the Royal Butler, Mr. Wilson (David Haig), the Queen’s Royal Housemaid, Mrs. Webb (Richenda Carey),  the snooty Royal Chef, Monsieur Courbet (Philippe Spall) and the King’s Royal Dresser, Richard Ellis (Max Brown) — the Downton staff is affronted by their extreme arrogance. Drama 3: Occurs when Lady Mary believes that Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier), Downton Abbey’s butler, will fall short for the royal occasion, so she asks Charles Carson (Jim Carter), Downton’s retired butler, to temporarily resume his former duties, upsetting Barrow. Drama 4: The plumber, Mr. Sellick (James Cartwright) who arrives to repair the broken boiler flirts with Daisy Mason (Sophie McShera), Downton’s assistant cook, upsetting her fiancé, footman Andy Parker (Michael  C. Fox). Drama 5: A man calling himself Major Chetwode (Stephen Campbell Moore), arrives in Downton village. He seeks out Tom, who suspects he is a royal detective involved with security for the royal visit. Lady Mary sees Tom and Major Chetwode leaving a pub together.  Assuming something’s not quite right, she follows them. Drama 6: The king informs the Marchioness of Hexham’s, Edith Pelham (Laura Carmichael), husband, Bertie Pelham (Harry Hadden-Paton), the 7th Marquess of Hexham, that he is to accompany the Prince of Wales on a three-month tour of Africa. This is a problem for Edith who is pleased for Bertie but also upset because she needs him home at the time of the tour. Drama 7: Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt) discovers that one of the royal staff, Miss Lawton (Susan Lynch) has been stealing from Downton Abbey. She agrees to say nothing provided Lawton returns the stolen items and remakes a ballgown for Lady Edith after the wrong size garment was delivered to her. Drama 8: Downstairs, Anna and John Bates (Brendan Coyle) have a plan to retake the household and restore Downton’s honor. The staff agrees. Drama 9: Thomas Barrow meets Chris Webster (Perry Fitzpatrick), who invites him to a club. Webster takes Barrow to a secret nightclub where the patrons are mostly men dancing together. The police storm the club, arresting everyone. Mr. Ellis of the royal staff is watching from across the street and sees the whole incident. Drama 10: At dinner, the king is impressed by the revised menu and praises his chef’s culinary skills, however, footmen, Mr. Joseph Molesley (Kevin Doyle) is quick to defend Downton and blurts out that the head cook, Mrs. Beryl Patmore (Lesley Nicol) prepared the dinner and that the Downton staff are the ones serving it. Everyone is stunned by Mr. Molesley speaking to the king without permission. Robert apologizes for Molesley’s outburst, but the queen praises Mrs. Beryl Patmore’s cooking and tells the Countess of Grantham, Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) that they are accustomed to people behaving strangely around them.

Meanwhile, Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), Lady Mary’s husband, arrives home in time to accompany the family to the ball at Harewood. As a self-appointed peacemaker, Lady Isobel Merton (Penelope Wilton) makes an important discovery that should settle an age-old feud. Mr. Carson and his wife, Mrs. Elsie Hughes Carson (Phyllis Logan) discuss Downton Abbey’s future. Carson asserts it will stand for another hundred years with the Crawley family still living in it.

As a fan of the popular BBC TV series, I was happy to see Downton Abbey come to the big screen, despite the long wait of three years since it ended on TV.  From the moment I heard the familiar Downton Abbey music while entering the movie theater, my heart started jumping for joy.  From what I could see of the trailer, the whole cast had reassembled once again to excite us with the ups and downs of a British hierarchy family in the late 1920s.  I learned so much about the culture just watching through-out the 6 seasons that Downton Abbey aired.  The movie didn’t slack on the heartfelt comings and goings of the household.  I found the movie generated much enjoyment with just the right touch of drama and secrets, as well as disappointments.  Downton Abbey left me with hopes of seeing a second movie, but without one beloved character, who I will not disclose at this time.  Make no mistake, there is a lot more story to be told.  I’m trying not to spoil all the surprises or all of the twist and turns this movie has I stored for you. Aside from my love of period pieces, I deem Downton Abbey as one of the better movies of 2019.  It opened with a $31M box office and is slated to pull in much more.  I highly recommend it to all ages — Downton Abbey is just simply delightful.  Check It Out!

 

THE WIFE (2017) – My rating: 8/10

The Wife is a drama directed by Björn Runge and written by Jane Anderson, based on the novel of the same name by Meg Wolitzer. The film follows a seasoned woman who questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, who is set to receive a prestigious Literary award. Extremely well acted with an interesting resolution to the story. I particularly liked the performances as well as the story.

The Wife opens in the year 1958 when a young Joan Archer (Annie Starke) meets Joseph Castleman (Harry Lloyd), a handsome young married professor at a women-only college. Although he is an accomplished, yet unpublished writer, Joan is awed by Joseph’s forceful personality and his advice, “a writer must write”. Joan also meets a published alumna author named Elaine Mozell (Elizabeth McGovern), whose cynical views on opportunities for female writers disheartens her. Two years later, Joseph has been fired for having an affair with Joan, his marriage is obviously failing, and his first attempt at writing a novel turns out disastrous. Joan who is now a secretary at a publishing house, observes how the all-male editors dismiss women writers. However, when Joan criticizes Joseph’s work, he threatens to end his relationship with her, claiming she cannot love “a hack”. Desperate, Joan agrees to fix Joseph’s novel titled The Walnut, which gets published and becomes a bestseller.

By 1968, Joseph and Joan are living in a large seaside home in Connecticut. Joan is hard at work writing a novel, to be published under Joseph’s name, while Joseph supports her by cooking, cleaning, and caring for their first child, David (Max Irons). As Joseph and Joan converse, it is apparent that Joan’s novel is a reflection of their life together that has taken on a lax luster life style and bores Joan to tears. Over the next four decades, a narcissist Joseph has several adulterous affairs, and tells everyone that Joan “does not write”.

By 1992, an elderly Joseph (Jonathan Pryce) has become a celebrated author and is slated to win a literary award. While Joseph and Joan (Glen Close) are travelling to Stockholm, they meet Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater), a biographer with a taste for scandal, who tries to insinuate himself into the Castlemans’ lives.

The remainder of The Wife is quite good. Glen Close is a brilliant actress and has always given performances par with some of the greatest performers I’ve seen. The Wife is a rather short, bitter sweet story that can only have one scurrying for answers. The surprise ending not only gives one school for thought but also directs you into your inner self for comparisons and solutions. Joan’s shattered emotional state becomes apparent to Joseph and he peruses the problem by asking Joan to take a walk and have a meal out while he convinces her that she is merely a ghost writer. When his son ask for help with a short story he’s writing, Joseph is unable to help because he’s incapable but his son doesn’t know his mother has been doing all the writing. How this movie ends will leave you intrigued and maybe a little angry. You’ll have to see it to know. Check It Out!

[The Wife is Oscar nominated for Best Actress]