Wicked Little Letters (#538)


I didn’t think they made movies like this any more.  Leave it to the British filmmakers to find a bizarre true story like this and turn it into an absolutely delightful comedy/drama/mystery who-done-it that makes you cry one minute and laugh the next.  And the cast is perfect, starting with the talented Olivia Colman as Edith and the equally talented Irish actress Jessie Buckley (whom I don’t remember seeing before) as Rose.  They are next door neighbors in a tiny seaside town in England where Edith is s spinster living in a conservative household with her sickly mother and demanding father, and Rose is a high spirited and attractive young Irish immigrant widow with a foul mouth and a cute young daughter.  The heart of the story revolves around terribly obscene letters sent to Edith’s household and many others in the community.  The guilty letter sender appears to be Rose and she is jailed pending trial by a narrow-minded chief constable.  A female constable (low person on the totem pole in the station house because she is a woman) is convinced of Rose’s innocence for some very valid reasons but is admonished by the chief and ignored. I don’t want to ruin this must-see by revealing any more other than to report there are a number of twists and turns and surprises as the constable enlists the aid of some other neighbors to find the real letter writer. This is a throwback to some of the classic British films of long ago.  79% of critics and 89% of audiences enjoyed it as well.  I was intrigued by the warnings about a period film being released in June described as containing sexual activity and nudity.  Didn’t think they had such things in the 1800s.  Subsequent research reveals that it is a two-part epic theatrical release which is produced, directed and stars another guy who won't quit, Kevin Costner.

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