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Directed by Stephen Frears. Written by Martin
Sherman. Produced by Norma Heyman.
Executive producers, Bob Hoskins and David
Aukin. Cinematographer, Andrew Dunn. Editor,
Lucia Zucchetti. Production design, Hugo
Luczyc-Wyhowski. Music, George Fenton.
Costumes, Sandy Powell. Starring Judi Dench
and Bob Hoskins with Will Young, Christopher
Guest, Kelly Reilly, Thelma Barlow. Weinstein
Company, 2005. R. 103 minutes.
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I
n 1931, Laura Henderson bought a dis-
used theater on London’s Great
Windmill Street. With manager Vivian
Van Damm, she turned The Windmill into the
home of a smash hit nude revue. From this
snippet of theater history comes Stephen
Frears’ film, a witty, enjoyable diversion
lifted to greater heights by the performances
of the always-remarkable Judi Dench and a
surprisingly effective and engaging Bob
Hoskins.
Much of Mrs. Henderson Presents is
spent with Dench’s Mrs. Henderson and
Hoskins’ Van Damm bickering and sparring
like the proverbial old married couple, their
unusual sexual tension lending the relation-
ship a strange spark. The Windmill’s sassy,
sulky showgirls, initially reluctant to disrobe,
gain confidence as the revue’s popularity
grows, even under the looming shadow of
WWII. Martin Sherman’s script takes an
awkward turn when it inexplicably lays the
blame for a third-act tragedy on Mrs.
Henderson’s shoulders — though she is ab-
solved just minutes later, as Dench turns a po-
tentially maudlin speech into a lovely evoca-
tion of all the feelings the tart-tongued, well-
intentioned Mrs. Henderson rarely allows
herself to show.
The film’s supporting cast is packed with
a varied array of talent, from first-ever British
Pop Idol winner Will Young (as Van Damm
recruit Bertie — a singer, of course) to wide-
eyed, expressive Natalia Tena, who charmed
as tough girl Ellie in About a Boy and was re-
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Anthony Hopkins in
THE
WORLD’S
FASTEST
INDIAN
cently cast as clumsy, quirky wizard Tonks in
next year’s Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix. As blonde centerpiece Maureen,
Kelly Reilly does the most work of the
revue’s girls, but her story feels somewhat
tacked on. This is Dame Judi’s movie, and
her Oscar nomination for it is well deserved:
Watching Dench in her prime is like watching
an Olympic figure skater win the gold, a feat
of extraordinary talent and strength made to
look so effortless we forget it’s work at all.
— Molly Templeton
PG-13
BE HERE TO LOVE ME A Film about Townes Van Zant NR
WHITE COUNTESS
CAPOTE
FILM GREEK
PG-13
R
NR
Indomitable Kiwi Spirit
Homage to the god of speed
THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN: Written and directed by
Roger Donaldson. Produced by Donaldson, Gary Hannam. Executive
producers Masaharu Inaba, Charles Hannah, Megumi Fukasawa, Satoru
Iseki, Barrie M. Osborne. Cinematograher David Gribble. Editor John
Gilbert. Music, J. Peter Robinson. Production design. Rob Gillies (NZ), J.
Dennis Washington (US). Stars Anthony Hopkins, with Diane Ladd,
Annie Whittel, Paul Rodriguez, Patrick Flueger, Chris Lawson, Saginaw
Grant and Chris Williams. Magnolia Pictures, 2005. PG-13. 126 minutes.
R
oger Donaldson gives us a nuanced portrait of Burt Munro,
a Kiwi obsessed with taking his 1920 Indian Twin Scout
motorcycle to the world’s greatest straightaway,
Bonneville Salt Flats U.S. After 20
years of perfecting his machine,
Munro wanted to see what happened
if he drove it as fast as it could go. In
his early 70s at the time, Munro set the land speed record (201 mph)
in 1969 at Bonneville.
Donaldson (Thirteen Days) met Munro in 1971 at his home in
Invercargill, New Zealand and made a documentary about him for
N.Z. television, Offerings to the God of Speed, in 1972. But after
Munro’s death in 1978, Donaldson was determined to make a fea-
ture film about this unique personality who’d made such an impres-
sion on him as a young filmmaker.
More than motorcycles contributed to Munro’s fully lived life.
He finds a loving relationship with Fran (Annie Whittle) in New
Zealand and shares the bed of lovely desert widow Ada (Diane
Ladd) in the U.S. A Native American man (Saginaw Grant) helps
him after an accident and shares with him a potion for prostate suf-
fering. Munro befriends an L.A. drag queen (Chris Williams), a
used car salesman (Paul Rodriguez), a Vietnam soldier on leave
(Patrick Flueger), and a fellow motorcyclist at Bonneville, Jim
Moffet (Chris Lawford),
whose way with the officials
gets Munro into the timed
trials.
With excellent supporting performances, Hopkins makes it his
movie with an understated, mellow performance showing Munro’s
savvy, skilled ambition and his rich, personal style. Here was a man.
World’s Fastest Indian opens Friday at the Bijou. Don’t miss this
one. — Lois Wadsworth
Don’t miss this one.
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FEBRUARY 16, 2006 21