Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Review

Mrs. Harris is a wide-eyed innocent character that most might find irritatingly naive, but in all honesty, it's refreshing to find a character so driven by the good in the world.

Spoilers Ahead

I'm going to start off by saying this movie is like having dessert for dinner. Its beautiful, decadent, soft, and light. It's not dinner, but that doesn't mean there isn't substance to this movie.

It's about this woman, Mrs. Harris, who is a maid that lives a simple life. She mends clothes, makes beds, and wipes dust off objects worth more than she makes in a year. And unlike other stories about cleaners who at some point look at these opulent artifacts in these houses and thinks for a moment about taking one; she never does. She simply...cleans.

She's very happy with her life, her best friend makes her laugh, theres a man in a pub who makes her blush with sweet compliments, and she genuinely cares about the people she cleans for.

And while this movie takes place in 1957, she is still holding out hope that her husband Eddie Harris, will make it home to her someday, even though he went missing in 1944.

That little part alone makes my heart break for her character. To love someone so much and to hold onto hope for almost 15 years that they'll make it back to you, that's a love that most of us will never know. She does get a letter telling her that they do have evidence he died in a plane crash in 1944 and she accepts it with a grace that defies explanation.

Then, while working for the evil Stepmother from 'What A Girl Wants', she finds a dress designed by Christian Dior. A lovely lavender frock with embroidered flower and crystals sewn into the delicate pastel tulle. Mrs. Harris is resolved; she will go to Paris and buy a dress from Dior.

She works hard and doubles down on her expenses and sews like Cinderella preparing for the ball to ear enough money to afford that gown. While life does give her a few lemons, the spirit of her husband sends a little luck her way and she does end up with the money she needs for the dress.

Of Course, while in Paris, she meets people who look down their noses at her and people who are equally kind to her. She has a marvelous adventure that is well worth the ticket price, and might give you a little perspective about living a little while you can. And maybe finding someone who you would wait 15 years for.

I won't tell you the ending, but it's like a fairy tale, complete with a little magic to make you smile at the good things people can do in the world.

Overall, it won't win any Oscars for a significant category, it's still a very sweet movie.

I am a pessimist at heart, I've been hurt a lot in my short life and it's made me a little bitter about the world. I live in a neighborhood where I'm more likely to hear gunshots than kids playing jump rope.

Nevertheless, after watching this movie, it made me want to believe in the goodness of people. That at their heart, people will choose to do the right thing, and be kind. Now, I know realistically that might not happen as often as I'd like, but it makes me want to see the silver lining in situations that I might mope over.

And that's worth more than an Oscar, isn't it?

When movies first started being made, they were about having fun. Women dressed as fairies, dancing through fields of flowers, men flying to the moon, and parties that made you want to join in. They weren't about making money, they were about pure, innocent entertainment. Why can't we just enjoy movies anymore without explaining some deep subplot that shines a light on some issue in society?

I don't know when people demanded movies have plausible plots and endearing characters, but maybe we need to go back to movies that are made just to entertain us and bring us back to the age of innocence where we all believed in people with good intentions.