Mr. Malcolm's List (2022)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Though this is a film we have seen, in various ways, many times before, Mr. Malcolm’s List finds a way to weave its charm and delightful nature into our hearts and minds.
An underrated and rather terrific multicultural cast are a joy to watch, including Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù in the lead role and Zawe Ashton as a spoiled, spurned villain.
Breezy, easy to watch - the 117 minutes fly right by. This is a kind-hearted, sweet-tempered film that wraps you up like that favorite sweater or blanket you often grab when you just want to detach from the outside world for a little while.
NO
Within five or ten minutes, you know exactly where this movie is going. That will frustrate some viewers who like a little mystery or surprise in their stories.
Though the source material is designed to be a light-hearted Jane Austen-like narrative, some have expressed the critique that the film isn’t paying homage to Austen, but straight-up stealing from the iconic novelist.
Holds a lot back with its PG trappings. The movie leaves some subplots and ideas unexplored, where a little bit of an edge might have helped raise the stakes at play a little more.
OUR REVIEW
‘Tis a tale as old as time. (Kind of).
Wealthy eligible bachelor seeks a future bride. Spurns a socialite. Socialite concocts a plan to gain her revenge. Man has a list of qualities he requires in a future wife. Unassuming girl and old friend of socialite is roped into the scheme, wins the heart of said man, and the whole plan is brought to light.
While that may seem like a spoiler, Mr. Malcolm’s List is a movie you have likely seen, in some form or fashion, countless times before. Whether elements of it exist in “Bridgerton,” or Jane Austen adaptations like Emma. or Pride and Prejudice, this is a film which feels familiar, inviting, and possibly a remake of something you might have remembered watching once before.
Nonetheless, Mr. Malcolm’s List fights through all the tropes, predictable costuming, production and set design, and musical score, and emerges as a delightful little movie. Fun, light-hearted, with the melodrama predictable but effective, director Emma Holly Jones has delivered a warm smile of a movie that is almost impossible to dislike.
Originally this was a novel, self-released by author Suzanne Allain in 2009, poking fun at the works of Austen. Allain went on to adapt the novel into a script, which ended up as a short film directed by Jones in 2018. The film led to a major publisher releasing Allain’s novel in 2020, which then led to studios interested in adapting the short into a feature-length film. And here we are. Much of the cast from the short film return, and Jones is back in the director’s chair, fleshing out more and more detail from Allain’s source material.
Set in 1818 London, the bachelor in question, Mr. Jeremiah Malcolm (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù), has spent an evening at the opera with one Miss Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton) and failed to find a connection. Expecting to be the solution to Mr. Malcolm’s bachelor problem, Julia recoils at being spurned and is aghast that it has made the papers. Her discovery of a list of traits that Mr. Malcolm seeks in a future wife is viewed by her as a sign of arrogance and elitism. And hell hath no fury like a Thistlewaite who has been scorned.
Enter Selina (Freida Pinto), summoned by Julia to reconnect as old childhood friends. Selina is bemused at Julia’s situation and agrees to string Mr. Malcolm along until the two women can embarrass him in revenge. Oh, those best laid plans.
The fact that the film is instantly predictable and obvious as to where it is heading would derail most films. However, Jones has an uncanny ability of pulling out strengths within her multicultural cast of characters. Each performer brings something different and unique to the table, making the film fitfully watchable and diabolically whimsical, sweet-natured, and thoroughly entertaining.
Held comfortably within a PG realm, some may want the film to push more boundaries and be more bold. As Julia becomes more and more desperate to reveal what she believes to be Mr. Malcolm’s deficiencies, Ashton runs away with much of the film. Her comedic timing and instincts in portraying a seething, buttoned-up socialite seeking revenge adds a spark to the proceedings. Pinto, the best she’s been in years, finds nice chemistry with Dìrísù, brooding and effortless in his charm, and an actor we need to see more often.
The performances are great, the film paced well, and all the familiarities we have come to expect in British period rom-coms from the 19th and early 20th centuries ring true. In the end, Mr. Malcolm’s List is the pint of ice cream, the comfy sweater, or the soft blanket you turn to when you just want to shut the world out and live in your feelings for a bit.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Freida Pinto, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, Zawe Ashton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Park, Theo James, Divian Ladwa, Siânad Gregory, Naoko Mori
Director: Emma Holly Jones
Written by: Suzanne Allain
Based on the novel “Mr. Malcolm’s List” by Suzanne Allain
Release Date: July 1, 2022
Bleecker Street Media