A massive cat fight between daughter in law Larita, (Jessica Biel, ) and her caustic mouthed mother in law Veronica (Kirsten Scott Thomas) develops when the latter arrives at the family estate, after an impulsive marriage in the South of France. Larita wins some favour with her father in law, the war traumatized , sardonic Mr Whitaker (Colin Firth) and the servants equally warm to the blond American, who has encroached on a quintessentially eccentric English family.

Her young husband John Whitaker, (Ben Barnes) might still be a bit of a young pup, a mummy’s boy at heart, but Larita is up for the fight, against her mother in law. John also has two plain looking husband hunting sisters whose noses are also put out of joint by the glamorous new arrival. There is a constant war of words and Veronica uses any method to get at her new daughter in law, who suffers from certain allergies and she assumes is unadept to country living. It’s old English aristocracy versus a young brash American, a battle of wills. And any rules of fair play are pushed aside, as it is play dirty.

The film is adapted from a Noël Coward play and it keeps to the spirit of the 1920’s period, slipping in the occasional more modern day pieces of music, given the 20s treatment. Sometimes the acting becomes severely hammy to the point of cringe and the storyline farcical to the extreme. I didn’t find myself roaring with laughter and I more enjoyed some of the psychological drama that unfolded, with the relationship between Larita and her father in law (Firth).

The film is directed by Australian Stephan Elliott of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, fame, for me a far more rewarding film. Women be warned, when you marry, you marry not only a man but into a family, who may be none too welcoming.

Francis H. Powell is originally from England and moved to Paris in 1999. In addition to being a writer (articles, songs and poems), he is a painter, DJ and English trainer. For more information, read his complete bio.

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