Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990 TAG: 9003242519
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Like most plays adapted to the screen, this one is probably more successful on stage. It was a one-woman show and Collins no doubt was able to use some of the stagier techniques that make their way into the movie to better advantage on the stage. It's not so disconcerting to see her talk directly to the camera but it's a bit annoying when she talks to the walls of her kitchen and rocks on the beach.
Still, these are minor annoyances in a movie that showcases the comic talent that Collins brings forth as Shirley Valentine, an unfulfilled British housewife yearning to achieve some potential that she senses is still within her.
The kids are grown and out of the house and old Joe, Shirley's husband, is so much a prisoner of routine that he verges dangerously on the compulsive. The weekly menu is always the same. If the kind-hearted Shirley gives a vegetarian dog - reluctantly forced into the custom by his masters - her husband's Thursday steak and Joe gets eggs instead, he throws a tantrum. Joe only likes eggs on Tuesdays.
Shirley's one dream is a visit to Greece and it finally becomes a possibility when one of her friends wins a trip for two to the place Shirley only fantasizes about. Mustering all her pluck, she secretly packs and goes. She's the only polite and civilized tourist on the island and she finds romance there, as well, with a charming scalawag played by Tom Conti. But Shirley says what she has fallen in love with is not a man but with life itself.
Collins is a complete delight as Shirley, a restless woman who sees what remains of her life passing her by. Never given the credit for the intelligence she possesses, Shirley turned to rebelliousness in her school years and dutifulness in her adulthood. Collins gives her wit, and great likability. Shirley is a woman, it turns out, of keen perception.
The movie is written by Willy Russell and directed by Lewis Gilbert. It's seen through a woman's point of view but the filmmakers bring Joe - played by Bernard Hill - back into the picture broadening their message to everyone who becomes imprisoned by their life.
The message that it ultimately delivers is one of hope for those who reach 40 and think that dreams are the property of youth. You're never too old to change gears, it tells us. `Shirley Valentine' A Paramount picture at the Grandin Theatre (345-6177). Rated R for language, nudity and sexual content and 108 minutes long.
by CNB