With their best feet forward
Finding Your Feet (111 mins, M) Directed by Richard Loncraine ★★★
It is supposed to be a proud day in the Abbott household. Former chief constable Mike (John Sessions) is receiving an MBE for his services and wife Sandra (Imelda Staunton) is hosting a lavish party to celebrate. ‘‘Naughty sherries’’ abound.
However, the festive atmosphere quickly sours when Sandra catches Mike snogging her best mate Pamela (Josie Lawrence).
To her increasing horror, the pair detail how they’ve been having an affair for the past five years. Filled with rage, Sandra leaves, but not without a parting shot at his paramour.
‘‘Let me tell you Mike, she has had more than one previous owner and her bodywork is mainly filler.’’ But her bravado quickly melts away as Sandra realises the enormity of the situation.
Homeless, she turns to her estranged sister Bif (Celia Imrie) who she hasn’t seen for the past decade.
Of somewhat different, more bohemian sensibilities, her older sibling lives in far less salubrious surroundings and consorts with more rough-hewn folk than Sandra is used to.
Struggling to adjust to her new surroundings, Sandra’s disgrace is complete after being arrested for an assault with a prawn at a local Chinese restaurant.
However, gradually, Bif’s funloved freewheeling ways start to have an effect on Sandra, aided by the welcome from those involved in her weekly dance class, especially antique furniture restorer Charlie Glover (Timothy Spall).
Her obsession with what other people think though, still threatens to derail her happiness, much to the frustration of her sister. ‘‘How do you expect to take control of your life, when you’re so concerned about everyone else’s?’’ she opines.
There’s a lot to like about Finding Your Feet. The cast of mature British thespians are in fine fettle, the action never sags and there are plenty of one-liners to savour (Joanna Lumley’s scenestealing serial divorcee says her last coupling broke down on ‘‘religious grounds – he thought he was God – I didn’t!’’)
It’s a particular treat to see the likes of Imrie, Staunton and Spall combine for something a little frothier than their usual offerings, although the tale isn’t without a healthy dose of Mike Leighrealism.
But despite the best efforts of the actors and director Richard Loncraine (My House in Umbria, Wimbledon), Feetis dragged down by screenwriters Nick Moorcroft (the St Trinians remakes) and Meg Leonard’s predictable plot and onthe-nose dialogue.
From Calendar Girls to Keeping Up Appearances, this class comedy borrows liberally from noughties and 90s British comedies (with the plot of Richard Gere-starrer Shall We Dance thrown in), littering proceedings with rom-com tropes and signposting the plot’s twists and turns from a mile off.
That this sometimes paint-bynumbers approach doesn’t result in a bland, uninspired facsimile is down to the charisma and chutzpah of its leading lights.
– James Croot