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.
