Albatross

I ended up including Albatross in my series on British miserabilism, although the director, Niall McCormick, set out to not make one of those films, pointing out that there's lots of sunlight and some humor. True, but still, underlying the film, is the basic assumption that living in England kind of sucks.

The film, from last year, stars Jessica Brown Findlay as a kind of Mary Poppins for a new era. She plays a 17-year-old girl who takes a job as a maid for a local bed and breakfast, a house that was made famous by the writer who now owns it (Sebastian Koch) in a breakthrough novel. He hasn't been able to write anything of consequence since.

Findlay, with the pillowiest lips since Angelina Jolie, has an aura of perpetual bemusement. She's a troublemaker of sorts, but of course has baggage--namely, a mother who committed suicide, and the names Conan Doyle attached to her name, as she is a descendant of the Sherlock Holmes creator.

She befriends Koch's daughter, a mousy Felicity Jones. Both girls are supposed to be 17, but Jones, who is almost 30, actually looks younger than Findlay, who is 23. Jones, straight-laced and obsessed with taking her Oxford entrance exams, allows herself to be liberated by the free-spirited Findlay, much to the consternation of her mother (Julia Ormond). Findlay also ends up allowing herself to be seduced by Koch.

The film is so-so, with a script by Tazmin Rafn that is too obvious by far. The title refers to that bird around the Ancient Mariner's neck, which has become a metaphor for anything that hangs around us and prevents us from living a happy life. Each character has their own albatross to bear, but really, isn't that true of any drama?

This is Findlay's first large film role, but she's known to audiences who watch Downton Abbey as the modern-thinking youngest daughter. It was a bit jarring to see her out of her corset, but she has a nice screen presence (helped quite a bit by her massive hair and those lips). Jones, who is an interesting performer as well, takes the blander sidekick role. Ormond is done no favors at all, as her character (called "the shrew" by Findlay) basically plays one note throughout.