Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Onlinewsma
Absolutely Brilliant!
Livestonth
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
dszorc
I was very disappointed in this movie. I've read all of the published diaries and felt this was dull and lifeless compared to the portrayals in Nella's writing. It reflects little of her commitment to her wartime duties and dwells mainly on the saddest aspects of her marriage. There is little of her wit and none of her insights and commentary on the period, the world, and the future. If you want to know about Nella Last and life in and around Barrow-in- Furness during the war (and after) read Nella Last's War, Nella Last's Peace, and Nella Last in the 1950s. Her diary output was vast, but the writers chose the least interesting aspects of her life for the film, a real injustice to a fascinating, intelligent woman.
Serenstars
Flicking through the channels on a slow TV night, I chanced across this film just as it was beginning. Within minutes I knew I had found something worth watching. How 'Housewife, 49' (made in 2006) had slipped under my radar I'm not sure, and why it hasn't received far greater accolades than it has, I have no idea. I went to the cinema earlier this week and watched the latest blockbuster, raking in millions at the box office .. and honestly, it wasn't a patch on this. Just for starters - The acting is breathtaking. Who knew Victoria Wood was such a stunning actress and as for the performance from David Threlfall (known to British TV audiences as Frank Gallagher in Shameless) - all I can say is Wow! His portrayal of this tightly buttoned-up straight-laced man who loved his family more than life itself (but was totally unable to show it) is like an acting masterclass. Add to that a supporting cast of Brit stalwarts like Stephanie Cole and the wonderful Sylvestra Le Touzel (one of my favourite actresses) and this wasn't a film that was going to go far wrong - that was apparent. But add to that a moving and eloquent storyline, great authenticity and attention to detail, bucket-loads of Brit humour and smart direction and cinematography .. and the result is an absolute gem of a film which I intend to purchase on DVD asap.
Enoch Sneed
'Housewife, 49' is a very good period drama. It is well-written, well-acted and well above the standard of most other television productions.One note of caution, however. If you have seen this, don't think you have seen a true adaptation of Nella Last's diaries. Only a couple of the incidents dramatised here actually come from the book it claims as a source. It seems Victoria Wood started with the premise of writing the story of a downtrodden woman whose horizons were broadened by the emergencies of war. So much is true, Nella Last did seem to find a meaningful rôle in her voluntary work. However, Wood seems to have been so determined to bring out this aspect of the story other elements have been invented and changed.Most significantly, the diaries for the last part of 1943 and the whole of 1944 are missing. This is the period in which Nella's son Cliff was wounded and brought home for recuperation. In the film Nella visits Cliff and he rejects her. This makes for poignant drama but we have no evidence at all that this ever happened (Cliff died in 1991 so obviously couldn't advise on the production). There is also very little evidence from the diary that Cliff was gay (although he did have a friend, George, who was killed while serving in the Fleet Air Arm).Nella never went to her old home by mistake when she was on the verge of a breakdown, and she never walked out of her job in the Red Cross shop.Worse still, the personalities of other characters have been distorted. Her husband is particularly badly served. Will Last was rather dour and undemonstrative, but he was not the unfeeling man depicted here, dismissive and even resentful of Nella's voluntary work. Nella's sister-in-law of the diaries was not the rather vindictive person shown in the film.The look of the film is very authentic, and the air-raid scenes give a real sense of what life must have been like for ordinary people living in those claustrophobic conditions with no certainty they would live to see another day - a welcome change from the 'Britain can take it' tradition.So: enjoy the film on its own merits by all means, but read the book if you want to know the real Nella Last story.
felix-gallagher
Taken from a housewife's diary writing in Barrow in Furnness, in the North of England, during World War Two, this two hour trudge makes for a very dull evening. As each plodding scene followed the last you began to hope for a Nazi bomber to drop a bomb on the lot of them. Every character is one dimensional. Every scene is played at a smug snail's pace. It seems to be shot entirely in sepia, until the war ends and suddenly people start wearing red. The ghastly derivative acting, music and script have no sense of rhythm. It is all apparently true. Whoever said that real life was more interesting that drama? The whole thing seemed longer than the war itself, and not nearly as interesting.
