Keeping Mum (2005)

*updated*

Some family secrets are best kept...buried.
alt: They took her in. Now she's taking them out.

Directed by: Niall Johnson
Written by: Richard Russo and Niall Johnson
Starring: Rowan Atkinson as Reverend Walter Goodfellow, Kristin Scott Thomas as Gloria Goodfellow, Maggie Smith as Rosie/Grace Hawkins, Patrick Swayze as Lance, and Tamsin Egerton as Holly Goodfellow
Music by: Dickon Hinchliffe

Rogue...

We decided to list this movie on our classics site mainly because it's a wonderful Brit film which was a smash over the pond but hasn't seen much publicity here in the States. This dark comedy focuses on the Goodfellow family - a rector, his wife, and their two children - and how their lives are altered when the new housekeeper shows up and turns out to be a serial killer. Maggie Smith does an absolutely stellar job as Grace Hawkins - who kills anyone who gets in her way. It's a role you don't expect to see her pull off - yet she does it with such humor and natural expression, you wonder why you haven't seen her in a role like this before.

The other characters are also superbly developed. The rector is oblivious to everything going on in his family - his daughter's promiscuous lifestyle, his son's problem with bullies, and his wife's impending affair with her golf instructor, Lance. Rowan Atkinson is funny in a way completely opposite his usual style with Mr. Bean. He manages to mock the clergy without insulting them, and even my husband (who is a pastor's son) could relate to some of the issues Rev. Goodfellow had to deal with. Gloria was sufficiently neurotic and Holly was the perfect rebellious daughter. I have a question though - when did Patrick Swayze start fitting the typecast for the pervy older man?

Another aspect of this movie I absolutely must praise is the soundtrack. It's quirky and heartfelt all in the same notes, and brings every scene in the movie together flawlessly. I'm tempted to buy it - but I am pretty sure I'd have to import it. I also want to congratulate the directors of this movie for keeping every death scene off screen. We are there at the moment of death, but we never have to see someone's head getting bashed in or a body dismembered.

However, that being said, there are some fairly graphic scenes in this movie. It is rated R. The daughter goes topless several times throughout the film, and there is a large amount of swearing. Plus, you have to see Patrick Swayze in a thong - which just about scarred me for life. The Brits are a little more lax with nudity and language than we are here in America. Just as we are a bit more lenient when it comes to violence than they are (which, I suspect, is why the death scenes are off camera).

Hopefully, my husband will be posting his thoughts later, so you may want to check back. But as for me, I give this movie a five corpses out of a possible five (5/5).

thatoneguy...

Rogue covered most of the info you need in order to make a viewing decision, here - "Keeping Mum" is a charming, darkly funny family tale that's filled with some really fun performances. There's depth here, too, even if it does seem a little heavy handed on the surface. A family falling apart, until "Grace" comes into their lives and changes them all for the better. In most cases, this would be horrifically cheesy. However, when the "Grace" in question is a charming old lady (played to perfection by Maggie Smith) who has absolutely no qualms about killing people who are inconvenient? Well, that helps make things a little less saccharine. In fact, it's the performances that sell this movie. (Rowan Atkinson, in particular, turns in a performance that shows that he has a range far greater than any of his Mr Bean roles.) True, Patrick Swayze goes way over the top, but the rest of the performances provide a surprising and welcome amount of levity and depth to this quaint, dark comedy.

As Rogue said, there's no violence here - everything happens off camera. The language and the nudity may be a dealbreaker for most, but rest assured - this isn't a Tarentino film. It's also not the sort of "cool language" that you find in most American films - I can personally vouch that this is exactly the way people in Britain talk. (I'll never forget the time I heard a Pastor's wife drop the f-bomb during a casual lunch-and-tea meal. Funny, funny stuff.)

"Keeping Mum" isn't a film that will change your life, and it's not a film that will leave you speechless. However. You will laugh, and smile, and when the film finishes you'll most likely feel happier than you did when you started it. No "guilty pleasure" here - this is a wonderfully solid film. Highly recommended - a 4 shovel-wielding-Maggie Smiths out of 5. (4/5)