Rating: R
Genre:
Romance
Theatrical Release: 08/30/1989(USA)
Release Date: 05/01/2007
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DDS2.0
Run Time: 108 Minutes
Flags: Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: Paramount
Since its London and Broadway stage debut, playwright
Willy Russell's
Shirley Valentine has proven an excellent showcase for any number of talented actresses (
Loretta Swit won the 1989 Sarah Siddons Award for her work in the Chicago production). In the film version of
Shirley Valentine,
Pauline Collins re-creates the role that had previously brought her theatrical fame and a Tony Award. Spending the bulk of the film speaking directly to the audience, the titular Shirley (
Collins), a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, reveals her innermost thoughts and fears in a manner that is both insouciant and poignant. Once an incorrigible anti-establishment rebel, Shirley now chafes under the plodding insensitivity of her husband Joe (
Bernard Hill). Her life enters a new and exciting phase when, after her best friend Jane (
Alison Steadman) wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece, Shirley is given the opportunity to travel to faraway places without her husband.
Shirley Valentine represents the second felicitous collaboration between playwright
Willy Russell and director
Lewis Gilbert; the first was
Educating Rita (1983).
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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