Mr. Blake At Your Service - Film Review

Post

Subscribe

Mr Blake At Your Service is directed by Gilles Legardinier. Straight from the pages of Legardinier’s international hit novel, Complètement Cramé! - which was translated into 17 languages and sold over a million copies across 22 countries - comes an enchanting romantic comedy-drama starring the incomparable and legendary John Malkovich, and French screen icon Fanny Ardant, along with Émilie Dequenne, Philippe Bas, and Eugénie Anselin. With a run time of 127 mins and a rating of MA15+ this English and French-language comedy-drama with sub-titles will be in cinemas on 18 July 2024.

A windowed British businessman (Malkovich) takes a job as a butler of a manor house in France to keep alive the memories of his late French wife. His life takes a turn as he navigates the eccentric behaviour of the lady of the manor and the household staff. The arrival of this very British guest spurs them back to life, prompting them to start working together to restore the manor's former beauty. The result will be a new lease of life for the Beauvillier estate and everyone living on it.


Mr Andrew Blake is a British financier who has lost his taste for life and refuses to attend the 28th Innovation and Tradition Awards Ceremony in London where he's being honoured as 'Man of the Year.' Instead, he heads to a manor house in northern France, which has seen better days. It's where he met his wife who passed away just 4 months before. He wants to relive the moments and memories of the time they met at this very manor. He has a room booked but he's mistaken for the 'help' that was advertised for and gets sent to the servant's entrance and given the smallest room in the manor. Upon revealing the truth, Odile, the cook, and Madame Nathalie Beauvillier's personal carer tells him he has to leave, but he begs her to stay because he needs to, and be the English butler she had advertised for, for the time being. She figures she could do with the help with plans afoot to set up rooms to rent to travellers, and agrees to let him stay; the truth hidden from Madame Beauvillier. Blake gets to know the rest of the members of the household; Mephisto, Odile's cat, Manon who comes in to do the laundry and ironing and other household duties and Magnier, who lives on the property and is a gardener cum handyman.


If you're looking for a gentle feel-good movie that moves at a pace that's undemanding, but never flags, this is it. Malkovich is at his eccentric best, with a slow French drawl, speaking the language throughout the film. It's a film about second chances at happiness, with a huge dash of humorous situations, culture clashes and unexpected friendships. It's sweet, charming, understated, and the manor is to die for with its beautiful facade and gorgeous, massive rooms within. Blake inadvertently helps everyone in the manor in his own way and changes their lives with a gentle nudge that brings out the best in everyone. A film where everyone plays their characters with humour and heart, along with a few eccentricities for some, it's a pleasant, sweet film to while away an hour or two.



%wneverywhere
#arts_culture
#foreign_films
#entertainment
#family_friendly
#performing_arts
#community
#nightlife
#date_night
#film_tv_reviews
#cinema