Janice Beard 45 WPM

The Brits made it again. It is simply a brilliant work, very well acted and well directed. Unfortunately, it does not cast Hugh Grant or some other 20 million a movie star. Brits make movies. Americans make money. Who's right? I don't know, but this is a movie that's surely worth to be seen. For a laugh, for a thought, for a sigh... of relief.

This movie was recommended so heatedly to me that I was fairly forced to see it. Not knowing what to expect, I was charmed and dazzled by the script, the acting, and the goofy decor and colours. For any 'girl' who's ever worked in a brainless office job this will be a delight.

The lead actor is perfectly cast as the unsquashably optimistic Janice, totally sincere even while she's lying through her teeth, overwhelmed by the demands placed on her, outclassed by the other office girls, and at the same time unwavering in her mission to save her mum in whatever way she can.

It also works because of the pacing; the story begins at a steady pace and gradually accelerates until it is literally speeding along -- our heroine works for an auto manufacturing firm -- too fast to stop. There are enough plot twists and complications to qualify "Janice Beard 45 WPM" for a French farce except, that it's in Scottish (I think).

It's not Proust and it's not "Brideshead Revisited"; it's just one of the best comedies I've seen and I've been wanting to see it again since I first saw it in 1999.

I was lucky enough to see the première at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Slightly reminiscent of Bridget Jones Diary in its wackiness, it was nothing profound or especially clever, but I couldn't help but have a good laugh.

Patsy Kensit's character should have stayed bitchy. Having her come around was just plain annoying.

I saw Janice Beard yesterday at the 2000 Tokyo International Film Festival and took part in the Q&A section with the director Clare Kilner afterwards.

Like the other reviewer has said, Janice Beard: 45 Words Per Minute isn't an especially profound film, but it is good fun and it is better than the majority of what passes through the cinemas.

In the film, Janice Beard is a 20 something young woman whose life began unusually when her father died in childbirth. This causes her mother to be the world's first sufferer of post-natal-post-mortem syndrome. She has never left the house since her daughter's birth, and Janice spends her entire life concocting stories to entertain her mother and entice her into the world. Like the director, I've also known adult compulsive liars and think they're not generally sympathetic people. However, the explanation provided to us of her mother's illness succeeds in endearing Janice The Underdog to the audience.

In the hope of being able to find and pay for a cure for her mother, Janice, equipped with her minimum level 45 words per minute typing rate, leaves Scotland for temp work in London. To some degree this reflects the experience of the director/writer Clare Kilner who has said the idea for the movie came to her while doing temp work - being in but not part of the work place and being able to observe others closely from that unique position.

Janice ends up working at a British car manufacturer (this is a work of fiction after all) through her school friend - the one who was faking a seizure at the beginning of the film to get Mrs Beard out of bed. The car company is about to launch its make or break product and tension in the office is high when Janice joins the typing pool headed by beautiful, bitchy Julia (Patsy Kensit).

From there on in it's a story about Janice toning down her outlandish stories (or living up to them - the salsa dance scene) and fitting in with the typing pool women, and finding someone along the way in the shape of Sean (Rhys Evans from Twin Town [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0120394] and Notting Hill [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0125439]). It's not Janice' fault there's industrial sabotage afoot and she's caught in the middle.

This is a really good, light and enjoyable film. If a director's first film most embodies the nature of their work to come then I look forward to seeing more of Clare Kilner's work. Answering questions on stage after the movie she was lovely.

I have a hard time understanding why the overall IMDb rating for this film is so low. Perhaps it's because the film is a small independent film without the usual Hollywood budget and trappings--I know a lot of people have a prejudice towards these style films. Regardless, it's very unfortunate because it was a great film--with amazing writing, direction and acting. It just goes to prove that you don't need a big budget in order to make a marvelous film.

The story itself is very quirky. Janice's mother is a depressed agoraphobic who hasn't left her home since just after Janice was born. As a result, as a child Janice learned to create a fantasy world and told her mother amazing but untrue stories about life outside their home. Unfortunately, now that she is in her 20s, she continues to live in a fantasy world--almost like Walter Mitty (but her fantasies are not nearly THAT grand).

When Janice leaves Scotland for a job in England, she is a total failure and loses job after job. However, she sent her mother glowing reports of success and even went so far as to fake videos to convince mom she was doing well! The bottom line is that Janice is indeed a flake--a very BIG flake. Now she was a nice person, mind you and you wanted her to succeed but her strangeness just prevented her from fitting in anywhere...that is, until she came to work for a small auto manufacturer. Here, despite her past, Janice somehow manages to slowly create a niche for herself. Unfortunately, at the same time she has no idea that an evil corporate spy is stealing from the company and has set her up to take the fall!

Now along with this unusual plot, there are lots of funny moments and the character of Janice is so cute you are really pulling for her to, despite it all, succeed. Amazingly, the writers are able to interweave some wonderful comedic moments into the plot AND make it all seem so plausible when things turn out brilliantly for Janice as the film progresses. In many ways, this film is reminiscent of the great little film American DREAMER--when an ordinary person suddenly is caught up in adventure and it all works out much like a fairy tale in the end. An exceptional and highly engaging film for someone looking for something both usual and well-written.