ianlouisiana Review of Miss Potter

Miss Potter (2006)

"Don't keep pulling those faces,or one day you'll stay like it"

[6/10 · 4 August 2008]

Miss Potter obviously ignored her Mama's advice because for the length of the movie she squints as if she has forgotten her contact lenses,turns down her mouth as if she is sucking a bitter lemon and puffs out her cheeks like one of the sweet furry creatures she was so fond of.You may gather from the aforegoing that I was not enchanted by Miss R.Zellweger's performance as the much - loved Author/Naturalist. Beatrix Potter was not the Andrea Dworkin of her day,I doubt she would have approved of Germaine Greer's "The Female Eunuch" or even have read the first chapter without resorting to the smelling salts. She was a wealthy upper middle class single lady of the type referred to at the time as a "spinster".It was by no means unusual for women of this class to refuse a "marriage de convenance" so whatever Miss Potter was,she was not a protofeminist as some have tried to portray her. However,she was a sharp,clever,gifted woman and a fine artist who found her niche writing prettily illustrated anthropomorphic tales for young children. "Miss Potter" tells of her somewhat fraught relationship with her uncomprehending and unregenerately Victorian parents,her first publisher, and her eventual husband,whom she first met as a young girl. It is rather nicely done with Mr B.Paterson hiding behind a serious pair of muttonchop whiskers but appearing occasionally to offer some gruff paternal love.Mr E.McGregor is steady enough as the man I suspect was the love of her life,but it is Miss E.Watson as his sister who impresses most.Hers is the performance that dominates the film - one can only speculate how different it would all have been had she played the lead role.But I suspect Miss Zellweger is the reason it got made. Without her perceived Box Office appeal it may have remained merely a glint in the scriptwriter's eye. It's not a bad film,but it's one to enjoy despite the leading performance which detracts considerably from one's overall enjoyment. I do not criticise Miss Zellweger because she is American and has adopted a "jolly hockey sticks" accent quite convincingly,but because, as in "Bridget Jones",her "English 30 - something" persona is too contrived to pass muster as far as I'm concerned.