Miss Potter

I watched this movie sort of by accident. Of course I was very familiar with Beatrix Potter the writer and painter and had read many of her stories to my children in their childhood years.

I spent some time working on a project in Barrow-in-Furness and the company put me up in the quaintly named Drunken Duck Hotel in the Lake District. I had a couple of weekends to look around the district and the hotel people suggested that I have a look at Hilltop Farm, at Near Sawrey. Her farm is captivating. But while her writing etc is one thing she was a passionate environmentalist and lover of the countryside, and a great philanthropist.

I bought the DVD there and watched it in the hotel. It is beautifully crafted and Renee Zellweger does indeed do a very good job. She was an immensely talented and modern woman for her time and I think this comes through in the movie. She was far more than Peter Rabbit.

I have to say, I chuckled over Ewan McGregors casting. While he does a good job as Miss Potter's ill-fated fiancée, I can't but think it was a nod to 'Mr McGregor'.

If you are ever in the Lake District, I would recommend the Drunken Duck and Hill Top Farm, and the nearby Hardknott Pass Rd which leads to the Roman fort.

This film is about the life of Beatrix Potter, who was a famous author of children's books.

The portrayal of Beatrix's love for drawing and for animals was remarkable and heartwarming. The pure and untainted love was refreshing. Her struggle for recognition and independence was inspirational. Renee Zellweger did a good British accent in the film, and she successfully made Miss Potter alive and vivid. Her depressive phase after the tragic loss was well depicted by both her acting and the imagery on the cartoons. The lavish sets and the breathtaking scenery add to the entertainment value of the film.

It's 1902 and Beatrix Potter is being stifled by her social-ladder-climbing parents. Always a teller and writer of stories, Beatrix breaks free from her suffocation and takes her tale of Peter Rabbit to the Warne publishers. Where she is pleasantly surprised to find a deal offered and young Norman Warne assigned personally to aid her in her first publishing venture. But as the pair start to fall in love, and the book takes off, the pressure from home threatens to derail her chance of happiness.

Before it was even released, Miss Potter was being tagged Oscar Bait by lazy and uninformed movie fans. It seems that any film that falls into this ilk, is considered to be folly and destined to be rubbish. Why that is I don't know, since film's like Miss Potter, Seabiscuit, Cinderella Man and Finding Neverland are technically great movies that tell amazingly impacting stories. Amazingly impacting stories backed up by fine acting I might add. Things further hindered Miss Potter by those decrying the casting of Renée Zellweger in the title role, it was Bridget Jones madness all over again. Once again Zellwegger took up the challenge and proved it to be an inspired choice to put her into the prim and proper corset of our dear Beatrix. Then there was the historical inaccuracies argument {like it has stopped so many millions of film's in the past doing it!}, none of which are really worth listing. So finally the last big negative put forward to kick Miss Potter is the age old chestnut of it not being a fully formed bio-picture. Please, do me a favour. It's got a running time of 90 minutes and primarily focuses on the most telling time in her life.

What Miss Potter is guilty of is not affording more time to her wonderful artistic achievements. Director Chris Noonan {Babe} and writer Richard Maltby, Jr. choose to enforce the whimsy and romanticism rather than showcase what a unique talent she was. In fact Miss Potter for the most part makes Beatrix comes off as a kooky dreamer. Something she most probably was when she dived into her work. Thankfully tho, in the last quarter of the piece, Beatrix is shown to be the strong, ahead of her time, woman that she was. Her conservationism and blow striking from the gorgeous Lake District she called home, is given weight and rounds the film out nicely. Prior to this we are treated to a magical world where Beatrix's creations come to life on the page, only to her you understand, but the impact as she converses with the likes of Peter Rabbit is uplifting and keeps us focused on what great work she achieved in the world of children's books. Conversely, when things do go bleak, as most Potter fans know as regards her real life story, the animation sequences are brilliant at portraying Beatrix's emotional state. Great work from Noonan and his animation team. While a special mention for Andrew Dunn is due because his cinematography around the Lake District is truly sumptuous.

In support of Zellwegger {who was nominated for Golden Globe} is Ewan McGregor {delightful and believable} as love interest Norman Warne, Emily Watson {terrific} as Norman's sister Millie, an early feminist and confidante of Beatrix. While Bill Paterson and Barbara Flynn as the Potter parents involve and infuriate to the right levels of story enhancement. Yes it's charming, yes it's sweet, but Miss Potter is far more than just a movie made to please a certain demographic, or Oscar, as the silly people say. Expect a film about a period in her life and accept that at 90 minutes long it's never going to be a fully formed Beatrix Potter film. And you may just be as beguiled as I was. Not as classy as Finding Neverland, but a most worthy accompaniment to that picture it be. 8/10

In 1902, in London, the spinster Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) is a thirty-six year-old woman who lives with her bourgeois parents. Her snobbish mother Helen Potter (Barbara Flynn) had introduced several bachelors to Beatriz until she was twenty years old but she turned them all down.

Beatrix Potter has been drawing animals and making up stories about them since she was a child but her parents has never recognized her as an artist. One day, Miss Potter offers her stories to a print house and the rookie publisher Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) is delighted with her tales and publishes her first children's book.

The successful selling leads Norman to publish two other books and Miss Potter becomes the best friend of his single sister Millie Warne (Emily Watson). Sooner they fall in love with each other but Helen does not accept that her daughter marries a "trader". However, Beatrix's father Rupert Potter (Bill Paterson) proposes that his daughter spends the summer with his wife and him in their country house in Lake District and if she is still interested in Norman after the summertime, he would bless their marriage. When Miss Potter stops receiving letters from Norman, she is disappointed. Until the day she receives a letter from Millie explaining what had happened to Norman.

"Miss Potter" is a beautiful film about the life of the British writer of children's books Helen Beatrix Potter. This writer is not popular in Brazil and "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" was only published in Portuguese in 2009.

I saw "Miss Potter" without knowing that it was biographical and I found very sad when she loses Norman. However, Renée Zellweger once again has a magnificent performance in the role of a woman ahead of her time. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Miss Potter"

Only the most curmudgeonly won't delight in this tender, inventive movie -- Miss Potter.

There aren't many movies that one can recommend to all of his or her friends, but Miss Potter may be the rare exception.

It has flair, style, and humanity.

Rene Zellwegger -- not everyone's favorite -- only occasionally simpers in her sensitive, forceful performance as writer Beatrix Potter.

Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson fit perfectly into their very likable characters.

The direction, screenplay, and art direction are all first-rate. And the sparing use of animation is wonderful. Peter Rabbit never looked so charming.