This is such a wonderful and delightful film that it simply has to become the next "Gosford Park." What a beautiful and emotionally riveting story. What outstanding performances. What period detail. What great songs. What a movie event! This is a must-see for anyone over 30 with a spring in their step and a song in their heart. Dame Judi Dench is simply tremendous as the titular Mrs. Henderson, a 70-something wealthy widow in 1930's London with too much time and money on her hands. Dench wrings every single nuance out of this role and that isn't easy to do because the role calls for a broad range of emotions. Dench starts as a grieving widow but soon moves to bored then intrigued before becoming entrepreneur and showman. She has one of the single most moving "war mother" speeches ever delivered in a motion picture's climax that will bring a tear to the eye of the most hardened Right-wing nutjob. And that's saying something considering Dench portrays a character based on the real woman who brought nudity to the London stage in the 1930's. I guarantee that you could bring Phyllis Schlafly and the most ardent female anti-pornography crusader to a screening of this film and they will walk away in love with this character and calling her a hero! The supporting cast in the film here is truly excellent as well. Bob Hoskins continues to surprise and amaze audiences with his ability to create any role and make it his own. Want a real challenge for film geeks? Make them watch his performance in "Unleashed" and then in this movie and dare them to tell you Pacino or Deniro is a better actor. They will not be able to. Juxtapose Hoskins work of late against those two actors and you will find one thespian and two hacks! But the real find here for me and any other gay guy on the planet is Will Young. In his professional film debut, Young provides what will surely be the most wonderful gay character of the year. Young plays the star singer named Bertie in the show that Mrs Henderson presents on the London stage. His character is identified as gay when Dench asks him why he doesn't flirt with any of the girls in the show and he tells her, "That is not my inclination." Within seconds the implication of this dawns on Mrs. Henderson and her reaction is so charming we fall even more deeply in love with her. After that, no mention of it is made ever again. Bertie doesn't have a boyfriend, doesn't have a love scene, doesn't have any more than a tertiary storyline. But Young sings and sings in the film. He is the star of the show that Londoners and young soldiers come to see. He sings in a way that makes him appear to be obviously gay and not once is it an issue or even mentioned. Yet Young is so crucial and important to the story that he becomes a major character. Watching him sing, especially in the rousing finale', brings wave upon wave of joy to a gay man's heart. Like Joel Grey's character in "Cabaret," he is the element that ties the characters in the stage show to the character's real lives. On the surface he seems to be nothing more than just a pretty face and a pleasant voice and yet, in the end, he is so much more than that. Where did this remarkably talented young man come from? He is an openly gay singer who has had numerous hit songs in Europe since winning the first season of their hit show "Pop Idol." What a discovery! "Mrs Henderson Presents" is just a beautiful film. Frears' attention to period detail makes this film sparkle visually. The performances give the entire piece the most amazing heart. And the plot is based on a true story, giving one a real penchant to learn more about the actual facts. Charming, delightful, funny, heartbreaking, lovely... The list of positive adjectives to describe this film could go on and on for days. Do not miss an opportunity to see this extraordinary film. Notes: Also with Christopher Guest, in a marvellous turn as Lord Cromer. Hoskins is a co-producer. Score music by George Fenton. Filmed at Shepperton Studios in London. The film debuted at Toronto in September 2005.

Viewed at the Paramount Theater during AFF in October of 2005 with my friend Johnny Oh!

Report Card

Script: A+

Acting: A+

Cinematography\Lighting: A+

Special Effects\Make Up: A+

Music: A+

Final Grade: A+