Mr. Malcolm’s List

Not a rant, not a rave. I think some people will adore this film and some people will detest it.

Firstly we stumbled across this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it. It was on TV. And we were channel surfing to find something to suit a crowd of mixed ages.

It’s period in feel, Regency and the costumes and location are mesmerizing so it’s an easy film to get lost in.

To be honest, I actually thought it was children’s movie, National Velvet, The Railway Children with a Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Adaptation filter, two female leads, friends, one of position, Julia, one the poor relation, Celina,

A bumbling cousin, Lord Cassidy, a handsome prince (actually honourable Jeremy Malcolm) and a military wash buckling captain Henry Ossory.

The plot is “Emma” esque Julia’s quest for matrimony thwarted by Mr Malcolm, because of his list of attributes designed to protect him from fortune seekers, she enlists the help of her childhood and a lot less well off friend Celina to pretend to be everything of his list to trick him into falling in love with her and then to avenge Julia present Mr. Malcolm with her own list showing him falling short of requirements. REVENGE.

It’s cute and we did watch it all the way to the end. Gave me Cinderella, Slipper and the Rose vibes.

Ironically we were planning on seeing the new Joker Folie a deuce movie or The Seduction with Demi Moore at the cinema but the younger members of our audience weren’t too keen.

I wasn’t bothered about whether the casting was historically accurate, a question a few people brought up online when I went to see what other people were saying about the film after I’d watched it.

The one thing nobody mentioned, even though it was a feast for the eyes, a spectical visually, beautiful scenery and rousing score it was so one dimensional I expected the wonderful world of Disney fairy to come out at the End.