Miss Potter with Renée Zellweger
Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor Star in This Feel Good Biopic
Aug 27, 2008
Looking Back in Time:
Set in 1902, Miss Potter immerses us in the Victorian era where a woman’s reputation and family name are valuable commodities, in the marriage market. The hysteria surrounding social propriety is personified in Beatrix’s domineering mother and much of the story lines centres around Beatrix’s confinement to her social status - which she seeks to overcome through her talent and determination to succeed. Despite this being an oppressive era for unmarried women, the film adopts a distinctly humorous and light- hearted approach to its subject matter by providing many things to laugh about in this movie.
The Author's Tale:
Miss Potter is played by Renee Zellweger who succeeds in bringing the shy writer to life on the big screen and creates a thoroughly likeable lead, not unlike her Bridget Jones character. In the opening scenes we find Potter enduring a painfully polite meeting with two male publishers who clearly disapprove her unmarried status. On a whim her work is accepted, seen as an opportunity to be palmed off to their younger brother Norman Wayne (Ewan McGregor), who is keen to break into the business. Potter’s children’s book will be his first assignment and one they are confident will fail. When the pair eventually meet Norman confesses that this is his first publishing venture, and one he suspects his brothers want to fail. Determined to prove them wrong, Beatrix and Norman become a formidable and united team and Beatrix’s friendship with Norman’s eccentric sister Milly (Emily Watson) adds yet more warmth and humour of the story. The blossoming romance between Norman and Beatrix is predictable but charming and thankfully the leads do manage more chemistry together in this film than in their first romance together Down with Love in 2003.
Although Beatrix’s parents are vastly different in temperament, they are a match made in (socially acceptable) heaven and their desire for her to make a suitable match does provide some laughs. It is surprising to see them disprove of Beatrix‘s eventual marriage choice in Norman but they concede to a test requiring the lovers to endure time apart to prove their love is true. It is a test Beatrix is quietly confident they will pass until fate deals an unexpected hand.
Beatrix’s devotion to her art and the love she finds with her publisher fuels this inspirational tale. The film often flashes back to various scenes from Beatrix’s childhood where her love of telling stories and drawing woodland animals is explored. As a nice touch, her imaginative interactions with her characters are brought to life in the film through the use of animation. There is a sense of life moving in full circle in this ‘feel good’ movie, which explores timeless themes such as friendship, love, courage and self- belief against all odds. If you ever feel your ‘just not like the other kids’ and struggle to value your uniqueness, then Miss Potter is a film that will inspire you.
