In
1932, the British economy was also rather depressed, but appearances had to be
kept up, nonetheless. A well-to-do widowed
mother is determined to see her eldest daughter married in proper style, even
if it kills the rest of her family in Donald Rice’s Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (promo clip
here),
which screens during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Dolly
Thatcham became re-acquainted with her rich, twittish fiancé during a grand
tour of Albania. She was most definitely
on the rebound, following the end of her affair with Joseph Patten, a promising
young academic. He was somewhat self-centered,
but there was real passion between them, as the audience sees in multiple
flashbacks. Her controlling mother could
make the rest of the family sufficiently miserable on her own, but when the
sullen Patten shows up at the house, it puts everyone further on edge. The fact that the bride has locked herself in
her dressing room with a bottle of rum hardly helps matters either.
Based
on the novella by Julia Strachey, a member of the Bloomsbury Group whose work
has gained popularity in recent years, Cheerful
Weather could be considered a lite beer version of Downton Abbey, but Rice and Mary Henley Magill’s adaptation clearly
lacks Sir Julian’s delicious wit. Of
course, the presence of Elizabeth Montgomery in the rather thankless role of
Thatcham’s overbearing mother further invites such comparisons.
Still,
Cheerful Weather offers a number of
memorable moments, largely courtesy of its snappy supporting cast. Indeed, Mackenzie Crook and Fenella Woolgar
steal scene after scene as the bickering Dakins, who largely reconcile through
their shared distaste for his family. Julian
Wadham also adds a humane touch to the film as the not-as-dumb-as-he-looks
bumbling Uncle Bob, while Zoe Tapper brings considerable allure and even a bit
of depth to Evelyn Graham, Thatcham’s fortune hunting maid of honor.
Unfortunately,
Cheerful Weather’s weak
romantically-doomed leads undermine the audience’s investment in the actual
wedding. Looking rather dazed, even in
the flashbacks, Felicity Jones’ turn as Thatcham is a pale shadow of Michelle
Dockery’s Lady Mary Grantham. More
baffling is the complete lack of screen presence displayed by Luke Treadaway as
the morose Mr. Patten.