Shirley Valentine

Willy Russell adapted his own play for this tour de force from Pauline Collins as the bored housewife who spends much of her time at home guzzling wine and talking to the wall before her husband (Bernard Hill) comes home from work for his supper at 6pm prompt! When her friend "Jane" (Alison Steadman) wins an holiday on Mykonos for a fortnight, she invites "Shirley" to accompany her. She initially dithers but luckily a visit from her rather selfish daughter "Millandra" (Tracie Bennett) convinces her to head to the sunshine after all. Her pal doesn't even make it off the plane before she pulls, and so "Shirley" is left to her own devices. She quickly finds a replacement for her wall - a rock (not called Hudson) and it begins to look like she ...

"Shirley Valentine" is a hugely entertaining film populated by richly layered and vividly drawn characters and fortunately it successfully manages to completely depart from its small scale theatrical roots to become a genuine motion picture treat. It essentially covers the same basic themes as "Educating Rita" (1983) and it is just as successful at doing this the second time around. The central characters of Rita and Shirley are also interesting. The former was about to become stymied by the very life the latter is already wearily trudging through on a daily basis, but they are both women trapped by the monotonous circumstances of their mundane lives and they desperately want so much more to live for in a world that is rapidly passing them...