Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day reminds us why Golden Age cinema works, why those perfect endings were perfect, and why sometimes knowing with whom everyone will end up delights rather than feels predictable.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 6, 2023

An engaging yet desperately generic feel-good dramedy.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Nov 28, 2020

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, provides pleasant respite in these times of doom and gloom.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 20, 2020

This is a dream come true for every woman out there and truly does make you, even as an adult, believe in fairy tales and happy endings.

| Nov 13, 2019

McDormand is her usual reliable self, while Adams continues to show her acting chops, delivering a funny, charming performance.

| Original Score: B | Oct 29, 2019

Amy Adams is at her sassiest, which is saying something, and Frances McDormand is a luminous charm playing the genuine and rapidly changing Miss Pettigrew.

| Jul 26, 2019

Fabulously funny and entertaining, but also slyly moving as well.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 6, 2019

However fanciful the happy endings are (and there must always be happy endings in this type of production), thanks to McDormand and a sweet, snappy script we believe and celebrate every moment of them.

| Oct 12, 2018

An obvious homage to the great screwballs of the past, films in which women were zany, mad things, and men were sticks in the mud, Miss Pettigrew packs a surprising amount of heart into a silk charmeuse, marabou puff of a story.

| Aug 22, 2017

Fanciful wit to spare, and Adams is sheer delight.

| Original Score: A- | Jun 3, 2013

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 18, 2012

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

| Original Score: C+ | Sep 7, 2011

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 4, 2011

A valentine to a by-gone era; one of the ten best films of 2008

| Original Score: A- | Feb 27, 2009

The spectre of impending war hangs heavily in the background of this romantic comedy, giving it a bit more heft.

| Original Score: B | Sep 17, 2008

Period comedies are a tough act to swallow for some, but if you are on the fence at all, please make sure Miss Pettigrew lives for more than just one day."

| Original Score: 8/10 | Aug 27, 2008

There's not a lot to it really--no deep underlying message other than an exploration of women's roles in society at the time.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 15, 2008

In short, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is fluffy and forgettable, but it's also undeniably entertaining, thanks to pacey direction and delightful performances from McDormand and Adams.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 15, 2008

McDormand is left trying for emotional depth in a sea of middling farce and semi-sophisticated comedy.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 15, 2008