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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 369995" data-attributes="member: 23">Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop (2021) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehollywoodnews.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FhyapSPc-768x1098.jpeg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=ba4cf7f606c6ff0414bdedb5ccaf4be9ee328b7d899e248b46244639bb406682&ipo=images" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 555px" /> This was listed in my streaming service as having been made in 2023. A bit of a red flag, along with the fact that I struggled to find information about the background of the film (I'd done a quick search just to ensure this wasn't part of an ongoing series that needed to be watched in a certain order). Anyway, I certainly wasn't expecting art. Which is fortunate, because I never got it. The opening titles gave the impression of a TV movie (or even an episode of a TV series), and I'm glad about this because it kept my expectations in check. Despite the detailed "origin" story in the film's opening scenes, I found it difficult to get a handle on the titular character. Her "thing" was being the wealthy lady of the manor and this privileged background had made her so adept in... whatever skills she needs for the occasion, probably. Martial arts. Strategy. Psychology. Advanced driving. I dare say she has feminine intuition on her side as well. She felt rather like a composite of any number of characters, from Emma Peel or Purdey to Harriet Makepeace (it did rather feel that the lead actress was attempting to channel Joanna Lumley and the end result was a bit Glynis Barber). There's probably a dash of Lara Croft and a helping of Jessica Fletcher and Nancy Drew as well. Oh, and having her as a teacher at a university felt a little like an attempt to get a bit of Indiana Jones in there. However, without anything to make this character stand out, she feels quite generic and derivative, and there's nothing to give this film (and I keep wanting to write "series") a USP. I also didn't buy her as an aristocrat or even upper class, but this was mitigated greatly by her having come to live in this environment after the deaths of her parents, and by her having been raised by her American guardian. It all helped me make sense of things that might otherwise have bothered me. The tone of the film felt quite Anglo-American. It's quite hard to pinpoint just what it is, but something felt a little "off", as though this is an American view of how Brits live (the kind of portrayal one might expect from Hallmark Movie, which at times I did wonder if this might be). Looking more closely at the writers and producers, it is indeed a combination of people from both sides of the pond (and a couple of other European countries thrown in). The writing is incredibly simplistic: safe and predictable. There are no clever twists and anyone who's watched a Murder, She Wrote episode or two can see what's coming. The denouement at the end even has a touch of the Scooby Doo to it. Indeed, the biggest suspension of my disbelief was called for at the very end when Willow had to give a Sleuthing For Dummies explanation to the brilliant man who had taught her everything she knows who - and this almost made me scream -  had evidently missed most of the clues. And all of this was presumably done because the writers thought the audience might not be intelligent enough to keep up with the thin, recycled plot. I've been a bit harsh, but it was watchable - and enjoyable - enough. There's certainly a market for twee, formulaic murder mysteries, and in this regard Miss Willoughby does feel like a fond throwback to a time when viewers demanded less of the story and simply enjoyed the scenery and the comfort of familiar character actors. This may be an imperfect example of the genre, but it's not without charm. Caroline Quentin is great fun (I spent a third of the film convinced she was Lucille Hewitt from Corrie, before my partner recognised Caroline and then I immediately remembered Jennifer Moss had died anyway), and Kelsey Grammer - playing the Steed to Willow's Purdey, or the Giles to her Buffy - is welcome enough. The North Yorkshire scenery - from historic York to the cobbles of Howden and the grandeur of Birdsall House - is very photogenic indeed. Would I watch a sequel or a series should either appear? Despite my scathing review, I'd certainly be open to it. Definitely. There's a confident, arrogant swagger to him that repels and attracts at the same time.Since I watched this with Who's That Girl in my mind, this was one area where I felt Madge's film was superior to this one.Agreed on all counts. It gets quite gritty and even raw (in that fight sequence) and was more substantial (and heavy) than I expected.I had the same experience. I'm trying to think if I've seen her in anything else - and I'm sure I must have - but I can't think of any of her performances. My main association of her is of numerous pictures in Eighties newspapers and glossies of her on Don Johnson's arm. And, of course, for being Tippi Hedren's daughter.  I did wonder if the casting was at least partly an attempt to tie this film to that legacy in the same way as Jamie Lee's casting in Halloween. There are certainly similarities to be found between Melanie's character here and Tippi's mischievous, drama-manufacturing character in The Birds.During this film I found it really difficult to work out her performance. There were times when I couldn't quite decide whether she was a terrible actress or she was being deliberately wooden as part of her screen persona to hide how canny and intelligent she actually was (à la Marilyn Monroe). I'm still none the wiser, but overall I'm leaning towards the former.All the same, this has reminded me that I've never seen Working Girl (which I remember being huge at the time). And any film with Sigourney Weaver has to be worth a peek.</blockquote>

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