Shirley Valentine

Ultimately an easy film to like. As portrayed by Pauline Collins, reprising the role she originated on stage, the title character is imbued with such slyness and spirit that we're able to forgive the idiosyncracies, the glibness and event he staleness of this feminist manifesto. That Collins never strains from the film's weight is one of the acting triumphs of the year. [18 Sept 1989, p.80c]

The movie has its own sweet charm, a charm as winning as Shirley herself. [15 Sept 1989, p.G5]

A delightful script and an equally delightful performance by Collins.

While some may object to the storytelling techniques employed by playwright and screenwriter Willy Russell to depict his title character, others will find themselves enchanted by Shirley Valentine.

Shirley Valentine only intermittently captures the wistfulness and tough-minded humor Collins is so good at dispensing. The rest of the time, it's far from bracing. [22 Sept 1989, p.31]

Middle-aged scouse housewives and Willy Russell is a bread and butter combination: no frills, a tad repetitive, but plenty of substance nonetheless.

If there is a shred of plausibility in the film, it comes from Bernard Hill's performance as Shirley Valentine's husband. He isn't a bad bloke, just a tired and indifferent one, and when he follows his wife to Greece at the end of the film there are a few moments so truthful that they show up the artifice of the rest.