An Awfully Big Adventure

Plot synopsis:
In the film's prologue, a hotelier ushers a child into a bomb shelter during the Liverpool Blitz. We see a brief flashback to a woman leaving her baby in a basement surrounded by flickering candles. Before departing from the house, she quickly drops a string of pearls on the child's pillow, twined around a single rose.
Years later, 16-year-old Stella Bradshaw (Georgina Cates) lives in a working class household with her Uncle Vernon (Alun Armstrong) and Aunt Lily (Rita Tushingham) in Liverpool. Lacking an adult in her life to whom she feels close, she frequently goes into phone booths to "speak with her mother", who never appears in the film. Her uncle, who sees a theatrical career as being her only alternative to working behind the counter at Woolworth's, signs her up for speech lessons and pulls the strings to get her involved at a local repertory theatre. After an unsuccessful audition, Stella gets a job gofering for Meredith Potter (Hugh Grant), the troupe's sleazy, eccentric director, and Bunny (Peter Firth), his faithful stage manager.
The impressionable Stella develops a crush on the worldly, self-absorbed Potter, whose homosexuality completely eludes her. Amused, he gives her the small role of Ptolemy the boy-king in Caesar and Cleopatra but ignores her otherwise. Potter reveals himself to be a remorseless, apathetic man who treats Stella and everyone else around him with scorn and condescension. He reserves his greatest cruelty for Dawn Allenby (Carol Drinkwater), a desperate older actress whom he callously dismisses from the company; she later attempts suicide. Potter also has a long history of exploiting young men. Stella is quickly caught up in the backstage intrigue and also becomes an object of sexual advances for men around the theatre company, including P. L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman), a brilliant actor who has returned to the troupe in a stint playing Captain Hook for its Christmas production of Peter Pan. In keeping with theatrical tradition, O'Hara also doubles as Mr. Darling.
O'Hara carries himself with grace and charisma, but privately is as troubled and disillusioned as the other members of the cast. Haunted by his wartime experiences and a lost love (who, he believes, bore him a son he never knew), O'Hara embarks on an affair with Stella, to whom he feels an inexplicably deep emotional connection. Stella, who is still determined to win over Potter, remains emotionally detached but takes advantage of O'Hara's affections, seeing it as an opportunity to gain sexual experience.
The last straw for Stella is during a cast outing when Geoffrey, a fellow teenage stagehand whom Potter has been sexually toying with, bursts out and headbutts him in the nose. The cast rushes to comfort Geoffrey, but Stella exclaims that he ought to be sacked. O'Hara explains to her that Potter has spent his life harming people like Geoffrey and causing pain to people like Bunny who really love him: "believe it or not, it doesn't much matter him or her, old or young to Meredith. What he wants is hearts." Concerned, O'Hara visits her aunt and uncle, who disclose Stella's history. He finds out that Stella's long-missing mother was his lost love, whom he then knew by the nickname Stella Maris, making Stella—whom he's been sleeping with—his child, a daughter rather than the son he had imagined.
Keeping his discovery to himself, O'Hara gets on his motorcycle and drives back out to the seaport. He distractedly slips on the wet gangplank, hits his head, and is pitched into the water. Before he drowns, his last image is that of the woman from the earlier flashbacks, clutching the infant.
Stella is later seen hastening to the phone booth to confide her woes over the phone to "her mother"—as has been her habit throughout the film. We are suddenly reminded that the absent Stella Maris had years ago won a nationwide contest to be the voice of the speaking clock. It is her recorded voice that provides the only response to her daughter's confidences.

Tags: comedy, romantic, flashback

Review:
The real hub around which this movie moves is not Hugh Grant or Alan Rickman but Georgina Cates as Stella, an unpaid sixteen year old student who is not only stagestruck but enamored of Meredith Potter (Hugh Grant), the cruel and thoughtless director who is more interested in boys.Stella, ignorant of most of life, is unaware of his predilictions and so ill-informed she is afraid she might have a venereal disease from touching a man with her hand.
Having been abandoned by her mother (who is the voice on the phone giving the time), she is being raised by her aunt and uncle, well-meaning people who love her but have no idea of what to do with her or tell her.
Eventually she is seduced by P.L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman), who has come to Liverpool to play Captain Hook but also to once again look for the woman who bore him a child many years before.
She, having no idea of sex other than as something to be done to her, is a slow learner but eventually says that like "learning a ukelele, it takes practice." The Grant character is so thoroughly despicable it proves once and for all that Hugh Grant can, in fact, act.
"An Awfully Big Adventure" is a story of a naive 16 year old girl, wonderfully played by Georgiana Cates, and her interaction with the members of a bottom-of-the-line stock company in 1947 Liverpool.
The Liverpool actors are lead by an incredibly nasty, chain-smoking homosexual director, played by Hugh Grant in what may have been the best performance of his career.
Their star, "Perhaps the best Captain Hook ever," is played by Alan Rickman in yet another stellar performance.
The likely reason people don't like this film is because it was released by Miramax who are infamous for mis-marketing their tough sell pictures ("Muriel's Wedding" was a feel good, laugh a minute romantic comedy?
It's a devastating account of a young woman's loss of innocence in a cruel world.I tend to really like the movies most people find too depressing.
"this isn't an American story." Hooray for that.As a character study of several people, it is about as good as it gets, although I might want a little more depth, especially on Rickman's character.
I enjoyed watching Hugh Grant, who is a delightful man in person and not quite the twit he often plays, cast against type as a nasty, bitchy queen.
If you like dark stories of behind-the-scenes theatre life, this is a good 'un for you.
Young stage-struck Stella (Georgina Cates) has bright dyed red hair and lives with her aunt and uncle (Rita Tushingham and Alun Armstrong, both very good) in run-down Liverpool.
She joins a theatre group where she isn't required to do very much and develops a crush on vain director Meredith (Hugh Grant, better than usual) and a half-contempt for the other members of the company (including a wicked parody of the professional ham from Edward Petherbridge).
When flamboyant actor PL O'Hara (Alan Rickman, excellent) arrives to play Captain Hook in a new production of Peter Pan, his fate becomes entangled with Stella's in a way neither of them could have predicted.
This movie veers from a sharp set of character studies of provincial theatre to a weird and twisted love story with a tragic resolution.
I liked the film and, though I'm sure there were countless other ways that they could've still retained its twisted plot in a more concise way, I enjoyed the uniqueness of its story.
Alan Rickman was terrific, but I wish I could've seen more of his character because for the amount of time he's in the film it simply wasn't enough, especially since he appeared to be a main character.
Although I suspected early on about the relationship between Cates and Rickman's characters, it's execution was much better than the usual pap that pretends to be a surprise or twist.Or even interesting.The real twists in this story, was its own mirror of the real human forces and decisions that keep some of the sweetest, and unfortunately, worst stories going on.
Because of that, this movie (and others like it) didn't do very well here.Having this story take place within the entertainment industry is an excellent way of displaying so much of the world's human tragedy AND stupidity being covered up by some people's treachery, some people's nobility, or a combination of both.And even at the end of this tale, all of the stage crew, like life itself, executed their own particular versions of the adage, "The show must go on."No perfect hollywood story here, with it's base and stupid doling out of come-uppance of everyone's flaws...or Evil..
This movie does brilliantly what films can do so well when properly conceived and executed: tell a story that is original, moving, believable, even familiar and personal to the audience in some deep ways, and also take us to a new place, show us people and a world we haven't often (or ever) seen before; and on top of that, entertain, delight, and engage our hearts throughout.
Both Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant do extremely good jobs portraying the powerful who prey on the young and innocent.
This girl, however, happens to be practically psycho from the abandonment she suffered as a child, talking into a telephone with no one but the recorded time on the other end of the line.The sad lives of roving actors in repertory companies of the 40s-50s is heart-rendingly portrayed by some pretty good actors.
If you are an Alan Rickman fan, you'll love the sex scenes....even if you're shocked later.If you have any children whom you DO NOT want to go into acting, see this one with them.
She goes through all the difficulties of a teenage girl encountering teenage boys, falling into infatuations, and looking for some adult to pattern her life on or the guidance to make her own way....It's a wonderful film until it takes a peculiar turn and becomes more the story of Alan Rickman's character, the talented but unbalanced character actor brought in to take on the role of Captain Hook in "Peter Pan." The first two thirds of the film are highly recommended; the ending simply leaves me disturbed -- but whenever I have a chance to see the movie again, it's hard to resist.
Georgina Cates does a fine job, Alan Rickman is in good form; Hugh Grant is fine in his role, but his role was less significant than I expected -- his character is mainly important in how Stella sees him and in how it affects her passage into emotional adulthood.
Stella's passage into sexual adulthood is the most distressing turn of all, and leaves me wondering whether I can like a film that makes this choice (and shifts its focus from the young woman who was at its center to the adult man who doesn't appear until midway through)..
This film could have been put out by those who felt for centuries that "theater folk" are people to stay FAR away from - their nasty name-calling, their preying on the young, their perversions, their plain meanness - can't be rubbed away as easily as the darkness drawn by any numbered make-up.
The acting, sets, costumes were first rate - particularly Nicola Pagett, Hugh Grant, Alun Armstrong, Peter Firth, and the girl playing the lead (whose name now escapes me).
People have tried for some time to name things that I would less like to do than watch An Awfully Big Adventure (or AABA as I now know it, to limit the horror of reliving the moment) again.
One should be wary of expectations when viewing a movie, but the title, the casting, and the advertisements gave the impression the viewer was going to see a lighthearted English period piece.Instead it gives a relentlessly bleak view of humanity, then blind sides the viewer with a plot development that is so horrifying as to defy description.
The acting was good, and, as always, Alan Rickman shines in the role of P.L. O'Hara (and he NEEDS to do Hook in a production of Peter Pan!) I just felt ripped off by this movie.
I watched the whole thing waiting for Meredith Baxter (Hugh Grant) to get some kind of come-uppance and it never happened.This movie left me sad and very disillusioned about the human race in general.I can't recommend this film to anyone, and I don't know how they ended up classifying it as anything but a dark, tragic drama..
Here however we follow primarily the journey of a stage-struck young girl as she enters the strange and often unpredictable world of a repertory theatre -her own awfully big adventure.
Alan Rickman underplays beautifully as always, and a restrained Hugh Grant demonstrates his considerable skill as a character actor.
Georgina Cates gives a stunning performance of the innocent (but not THAT innocent) girl drawn into the world of the theatre, and the supporting cast are faultless.
Lots to like here, but it is not at all a feel good movie.
There's Alan Rickman (oh that voice); Hugh Grant at his slimiest (the only characters he's decent at doing), and lo and behold!
The main characters are good, and Peter Firth's done a nice job being the jilted lover of Hugh Grant.
That, my friends, is an image that will stay with me the rest of my lucid days.So it all comes down to this: perhaps THESE are the reasons why "An Awfully Big Adventure" was marketed as a LIGHTHEARTED COMEDY!
What an unusual composition - begins like a story about a girl, then the focus shifts from her to the guy she longs after, until another guy shows up in the second third of the film and becomes the main character whose destiny revolves around the said girl...
What makes the ending so sad are some funny and tender moments in the film that reveal three- dimensional characters who inspire understanding and even sympathy.
I have sat through several bad movies, most of which to be fair had awful performances and dire plot, however this film contrives to be one of the most ghastly experiences of my life.Picture the scene - one goes to the cinema to watch some harmless piece of British costume drama and one is confronted by an eternity watching awful people perform awful acts on themselves and each other.I appreciate that the performances were actually good.
I like Alan Rickman as much as the next person and even Hugh Grant is good in the film (and against type too; well done Hugh!), but still nothing - no review - no warning can prepare you for the horror of sitting through thisI once, near the end of the film (and thinking 'Well, maybe I just don't get it') turned to see the audience reaction - they appeared to be having as much fun as I was - both of them!Even dear old Prunella puts in an appearance (then again, there are always the supermarket ads, but the less said the better I feel) and is excellent.As a warning, I cannot recommend that you see this film - I aged 10 years in the first hour alone (how many hours did it take?
I know not, but many by my physical reaction) Your time will be better spent digging that heavy clay in the north bed of your garden, or cutting your toenails, or cutting someone else's toenails or indeed watching the proverbial grass grow and paint dry.Oh, did I mention it was depressing too?Since writing this, a friend bought me, knowing how much I enjoyed the film, the Beryl Bainbridge novel.
The book is fantastic and almost...almost makes me want to see the film again to see how they managed to turn a great piece of writing into an utter dirge..
Although somebody has spoiled alot of the film in the comment, I'm not going to do that.What's so wrong about the last third is not even the subject matter, but they think those are more important than stella's bitter sweet love.
As Alan Rickman noted, Hugh Grant character "goes for the hearts," I doubt stella would back off because of that.
Stella's impossible love; uncle vernon and even the vase were more important than sudden turn of event.The film obvious don't have what the takes to look at that subject.
Shame on them for giving us such great performances from Hugh Grant, Georgina Cates and Alan Richman but never give us a ending.
Good performance by Alan Rickman in the lead role.
It is not predictable like most Hollywood movies and it shows the quirkier side of people.
I think this is the first time I have seen Hugh Grant portray a rather mean spirited character as he usually plays more likable roles.
I think he acted it very well as did Alan Rickman...
A bitter-sweet film with comic moments, especially the amazing performance by Hugh Grant.
Alan Rickman tortured response to the twist (twisted?) event which occurs in the film was difficult to watch.
What a brilliant, subtle, internalized reaction in the living room of Stella's uncle -a fine piece of acting!This is a must for Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman fans!.
A note: I've seen it on tape and on cable TV, and for some reason, every time, the sound has been so bad, much of the dialogue is unintelligible.In spite of all that, if you have any interest at all in any member of the cast, or in  postwar British theater, or just in the theater in general, you should see it.Basically every performance in this movie is brilliant, especially Alan Rickman, Peter Firth, Georgina Cates and, my favorite actor, Hugh Grant.This film is a must see for anyone who thinks Mr. Grant is a "wooden" actor, or always plays a "hesitant Englishman" (A ridiculous charge made by people who have seen only a fraction of his acting output)..
It gives us a window into the depressing life of the provinces in post World War II England, and also into the life of actors working in the British Repertory system - the youthful enthusiasm of the youngsters, and the frustrations and petty jealousies of the older troupers, long past their prime, if they ever had one.Georgina Cates is superb as the determined Stella, always playing a part whether on-stage or off.
And as an aside, what a brilliant Captain Hook he'd have made!There was generally good work from the supporting cast, particularly from Prunella Scales as the cynical but not unkind theatre manager, and the wonderful Alun Armstrong as Stella's uncle Vernon.
He'd be shocked, but I think not surprised, and would take it on board as one of life's strange ironies, without ever quite understanding just how it tore P.L. apart.Some people have found the incest to be distasteful and are put off the film because of it, but it was a tragedy of Greek proportions, a twist of fate for which nobody was responsible, and the protagonists were more to be pitied than reviled.
However, I gotta say this movie has a lot of symbolism, as someone put it perfectly on a comment in youtube, of how Potter is Peter Pan who seduces lost boys, of Stella as Wendy who sadly escapes her childhood in a very very twisted way and O'Hara as Captain Hook whose actor usually play both Captain Hook and Wendy's father.
It is terrific, but it's too dark, too angst, too depressed - not that these qualities mean it's bad like a lot of usual audiences would think - I think usually people expect the light at the end of the tunnel, but with all respect to reality and in connection with Peter Pan, sorry Wendy has to grow up.
I really want to see a movie about incest when I'm sitting with my Mom and Dad.The characters were unappetizing and nasty.
They ought to post labels on movies such as this...something like "WARNING: Nasty characters, Over-the-top-Greek-Tragedy-Climax!
See only if you like Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant.
It was interesting, but weird in the beginning, and I must admit I rented it only to see Alan Rickman, an actor I've enjoyed watching thoroughly since I saw him in Die Hard and Quigley Down Under.
(I actually liked him more than Bruce Willis or Tom Selleck and they were both pretty hunky) Alan Rickman is one of those actors who frequently plays villains that I truly love watching, (Gary Oldman being another) They are both handsome in offputting ways and have something about them that makes them unique.
(loads of acting talent, mesmerizing voice, deep eyes) Anyway, at first I was intrigued by the story of young Stella, but I was quickly bored after not seeing Mr. Rickman more than halfway through the movie.
I wouldn't recommend this film unless you like convoluted stories about nasty people doing nasty things to each other.
So I had hopes of liking An Awfully Big Adventure as well.
This film boasts a splendid cast of actors, many of them long past their primes but then so are most of the characters in the movie.
I have no doubt she ended up either a nun or a whore.Georgina Cates gives a pretty great performance though she's very difficult to understand more often than not and I have been watching British/Irish/Scotch films for years.
I find him very boring most of the time, but he can pull out some moments of high drama when called upon to do so.Hugh Grant actually does the most convincing job of acting.
Worst movie with Hugh Grant of all time.
Let me tell you that I have never been more disappointed in my life from a movie with Hugh Grant.
So you are left asking yourself is he really her dad or not or is that just something they want you to think, and is Hugh Grant supposed to be gay in this film?