Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (December 8, 2022)
In summer 2022, I saw a large cardboard “standee” display at my local AMC that promoted a film called Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. This looked similar to the Blu-ray cover to the left.
As soon as I witnessed that advertisement, I said “there’s a movie that’ll earn about $36 at the box office!” With a US gross of a little more than $9 million, it did better than my estimate, but it didn’t exactly function as a summer blockbuster.
None of this means Paris can’t offer a quality film, of course. Perhaps perversely piqued by that AMC standee, I tossed the Blu-ray into my player.
Set in 1957, Ada Harris’s (Lesley Manville) died in World War II. The lonely widow works as a cleaning lady in London and struggles to make ends meet.
One day Mrs. Harris spies a Dior dress and immediately becomes smitten by this piece of clothing. She embarks on a quest to obtain the expensive item despite her meager means of financial support.
Given that synopsis, one might expect Paris to bring a gloomy, depressing tale of a sad older woman with little joy in her life. However, the movie’s title offers a hint that it will go a different direction.
One could easily imagine Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris as the moniker for a children’s film. Though Paris shows nothing that would charm wee ones, it does offer much more of a fable than my overview implies.
The film comes based on Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel. A 157-page affair, that seems like a story that should last maybe 90 minutes.
Unfortunately, Paris spans nearly two hours. For a slight confection like this, that becomes an excessive running time.
It doesn’t help that vast amounts of Paris simply feel padded. Many scenes seem unnecessary, while others come across as too long.
That said, much of the problem stems from the movie’s inherent lack of real spark. While Paris desperately wants to offer a sweet kin of fairy tale, it consistently feels forced and contrived.
Paris strives to achieve a form of romantic dreaminess that never comes across as natural. All the attempted “magic” seems self-conscious and artificial.
Would a shorter and tighter Paris have offered an actual good movie? No – the filmmakers find themselves too far from their fantasy goals for the product to earn redemption.
Still, at least a 90-minute Paris would feel like less of a chore to watch. Devoid of the magic it strives to achieve, this turns into a slow, superficial dud.
