Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Frothy and exuberantly entertaining - in part because of the sexual innuendoes - it's the best romantic comedy so far this year.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Adams shines brightly, reinforcing the image she projected in Junebug and enhanced in Enchanted and Charlie Wilson's War. At this time of the year, it's tough to find a more diverting way to spend 90 minutes in a multiplex.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Based on the 1938 novel by Winifred Watson, it's a deluxe romance that most of the time plays like farce.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

It's an unusual and engaging romantic comedy because it's mostly about how these women ready each other for real love.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Watching McDormand navigate that transformation is the kind of thing that can keep your hope in movies, and in actors, alive.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Sustains itself through terrific forward momentum and two glorious star turns by gifted actresses Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Style is a tricky, elusive thing, and this film doesn’t so much have it as strive for it, constantly. But something in Watson’s story endures: The wish-fulfillment truly satisfies. And with the war clouds gathering by story’s end, the fairy tale acquires a bittersweet edge, nicely cutting all that whipped cream.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Looks and sounds great, and is at its best when it isn't trying too hard to have fun.

USA Today Claudia Puig

A good farce is hard to find. Particularly one that holds up for the entirety of the story and keeps us engrossed, while smiling. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a particularly effective and cheeky example.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

The only thing missing from this winsome, madcap throwback set in London on the eve of World War II is an actual Brit in the title role.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A jubilee for McDormand and jolly good fun for most everyone else.

Film Threat Matthew Sorrento

Plays like a breeze and ends before we know it. In the current state of cinema, all we can hope for is one like this per year.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Bharat Nalluri directs with a light touch and a great eye for costumes and sets, which are gorgeous enough to make up for any contrivances in the plot. It's pure romantic fantasy, and you won't believe it for a minute. But it's fun to watch Miss Pettigrew and Miss Lafosse live for a couple of hours.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

The film's flaws are nothing compared with the pleasures it offers, chiefly in its unapologetic pursuit of old-fashioned sweetness and romance.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

How light is this movie? So buoyant that even an air raid warning, signaling that this whole world is about to crumble under the blitz, can’t dampen its giddy spirits.

Variety Todd McCarthy

McDormand's performance slowly builds a solid integrity, and contrasts well with Adams' more flamboyant turn.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The film is lovely to look at -- so overflowing with lavish furniture, jewelry and interiors that it's almost like a visit to Paris' Musée des Arts Décoratifs. If you're a fan of such things, "Pettigrew" is worth seeing solely for its sets.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

It's left to the ideally cast McDormand to keep everything on track and, as expected, she weathers every tonal change with competence, confidence and a perfectly stiff upper lip.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Adams, of course, is a peach. Her sparkle requires only minor character adjustment and twinkle recharging from her recent triumph as the old-fashioned modern heroine in "Enchanted."

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

In trying to recapture the spirit of classic '30s screwball comedies, the film too often mistakes manic energy for wit, and it ends on a note of gloppy sentimentality that wouldn't have held water in Old Hollywood.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

Although McDormand's performance is consistently focused -- one would expect no less from the actress -- the movie itself can't settle on whether Miss Pettigrew is Mary Poppins minus the sugar spoonful or just plain Carrie Nation.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

What makes Watson's novel a delight is its guilelessly homoerotic subtext. By downplaying that, the movie argues the case for Watson's innocent sensuality--and against its own worldly update.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This was shot at the legendary Ealing Studios, but I hesitate to call it a British comedy: its two stars are American, it currently has no UK release date, and its innocuous naughtiness seems pitched at grandmothers who watch BBC America.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

I adore Frances McDor mand, but she's seriously miscast in a title role Emma Thompson could play in her sleep.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The comedic success of this pair of dramatic archetypes, the radiant flibbertigibbet and the gray, lumpen elder spinster, in a lightweight bit of piffle such as this is a testament to both Adams' and McDormand's smarts. It's tough to play dumb when you're not and even more difficult to dial down your own innate brilliance.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's polished-looking, yet dull.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

At least Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day has the good grace to go wrong quickly, you don't have to sit there squirming with doubt.