Mean Notes (2023) – Movie Review and Opinion [M2 Films]A hundred years ago they could have sworn.

An old, God-fearing maid, who still lives with her parents, begins to receive letters full of insults and vulgarity, which increases the pressure on her and her parents. He blames his dirty-faced neighbor, who he is currently not talking to, as the author. Everything indicates that the woman is innocent. When the police refuse to listen to them, the local women decide to take matters into their own hands.

I love these warm British films. This one and last year’s “Wonder Women’s Club” are movies my mom would definitely love, but they have so much heart and humor that they make them It should also be suitable for a slightly younger viewer – assuming they like typical British humour, to some extent. Add in a quiet but very picturesque city, beautiful costumes and a non-rushed plot, and we have a movie that is perfect for middle-aged or even elderly women. Although in this case there is another aspect that makes even people younger than me love it.

The main characters in “Mean Notes” swear like the proverbial shoemakers! The content of the titular letters is by no means a secret to the public, and their humorous side strikes with double force, as most of the inhabitants of Littlehampton at the time felt clearly embarrassed, bordering on completely unable to read them out loud. There is a lot about love, both classical and oral, inserting various objects into natural body holes, and a lot of colorful comparisons. I would say you can even learn something! In short: a session between teenagers and their parents may not be a completely comfortable experience, depending on the exact nature of the relationship.

Mean Notes (2023) – Movie Review and Opinion [M2 Films]The Mysterious Author

The plot itself is not overly complicated or even overly long. In fact, I am convinced that a competent editor could edit a version that lasts less than 90 minutes without losing the comedic quality of the text. The true author of the notes, although only revealed halfway through the film, becomes quite clear long before that. Then we have to catch him red-handed, which is the story of (female) police officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) and her battle with her stubborn blind colleagues who display dazzling hypocrisy.

The rest of the film is mainly character building, relationships, and purely comic scenes. Let’s start with the main characters. Edith Swann is played by the always great Olivia Colman, who somehow manages to play a character who infuriates us, who we even hate, a sad, lonely woman, tightly and deeply sandwiched between her opinionless mother, Victoria, and her mother, the one who controls everything and everyone, the father who refuses to let anyone speak, Edward (Gemma Jones and Timothy Spall, respectively, Madam Pomfrey and Peter Pettigrew from “Harry Potter”). Watching her face and guessing what might be going through her mind is one of the movie’s biggest draws. The screenplay by Johnny Sweet – based on the true story of Edith and Rose – meanders to the end, showing us the character of Miss Swan in a different light, and evoking different emotions.

Mean Notes (2023) – Movie Review and Opinion [M2 Films]. A certain tradition of historical truth.

“It’s more true than you think” (I think that’s how it was written), the film tells us at the start, because it’s not an exact translation of the events of nearly a hundred years ago into the language of the film. The timeline has been suitably shortened so that the events don’t drag on too much, the characters are painted with a comedic rather than dramatic brush, though there is of course plenty of drama, and some liberties have been taken with the casting. As with fictional characters, I don’t care, for example, if Nick Fury looks like David Hasselhoff or has Sam Jackson’s bald face; we’re dealing with a real story of real people – including names – so I don’t know if I’d be happy if Malachi Kirby played my grandfather (Rose’s partner in the film) just because his skin tone would serve to emphasize the free spirit of another character. Well, sure. It should be noted that the scenario is very trivial in many respects, and is primarily aimed at creating a funny situation, and not conveying what the situation was like word for word.

Facts are facts, and truth is truth, but regardless, the queen of this party is Jessie Buckley as Rose Gooding. Here she is a loud, straightforward woman, with a very boyish attitude, a big stride and a love of drinking and shouting all sorts of insults at the local pub. At first glance, one could tell she is a rather sick woman – she drinks a lot, often shouts at her daughter (Alisha Ware), and her language seems to have no filter. But all this is only one side of her, carefully revealed by the director, because this is supposed to be our first impression. Only later do we begin to see her more sensitive, even fearful, second nature—a fear of leaving her daughter alone, a desire to ask for help but lacking the social skills to actually do so. Buckley is great both in the scenes that reveal the real Rose and when she’s having fun waving her arms, screaming and making weird faces. You can fall in love with that half-smile. It’s these two women and their interactions with the rest of the cast, no matter how silly they are, that “make” this movie.

It is worth noting that “Mean Notes” is not a 100% comedy, where it is meant to make us laugh above all else. It is also a human drama, a story about our vices, which can sometimes hinder our lives and make certain interactions impossible. The clichéd nature of the story and the somewhat cautious times in which the film takes place are certainly a combination that will make the viewer laugh on a regular basis, but laughter is only one element of this story, not its entire meaning. It is worth checking out if you have the time and inclination to go to the cinema.