Customer Reviews

Shirley Valentine [VHS]

5 star:		(182)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the best films ever made that explores the human heart, "Shirley Valentine" begins with a bored British housewife who aches for "the girl who used to be me." Shirley Valentine was the rebel, the smart-mouth, the girl who would dare to do what other girls only dreamed of having the nerve to try. Now she's Shirley Bradshaw, a 42-year-old housewife with 2 grown kids and a husband she feels doesn't love her anymore. This movie is about how a fortnight's holiday alone (more or less - she arrives with a friend who promptly ditches her) in Greece enables her to find Shirley Valentine again. Funny, witty, heartwarming, inspiring, sentimental without being syrupy, "Shirley Valentine" is for all of us who've ever wondered if we made the right choices in life -- and if it's too late to take some of them back. Pauline Collins deserved the Oscar she was nominated for (too bad she didn't get it), with one of the best performances by an actor ever put onto film. The perfect movie to watch WHENEVER you are "down in the dumps," this film will cheer you up and give you hope, each and every time.

I saw this movie many years ago, when it first hit the art house theatres. I bought it on video as soon as it was available!

This movie touched me in a way that no other movie has before. Shirley's desire to rediscover life during a marriage that's lifeless, along with two grown kids that don't seem to care much for her anymore, really was poignant. Her desire to find that young, rebellious girl that she once was, willing to take chances and enjoy life, see the world -- it's an amazing film.

You'll enjoy her little sidebars to the cameras and her conversations with inanimate objects. Pauline Collins is adorable and a delight in this film. It's a great film for women and men alike, for those who have forgotten who they are but want to get back in touch with their inner child, realize that just because your 40 doesn't mean you're dead; you've got a lot more living to do, as Shirley states in the movie.

Buy it for yourself and for others. It's funny and touching at the same time. You'll cheer for Shirley as she breaks out of the bored housewife mode and into the sexy go-getter who's ready to conquer the world.

The only complaint I have (and it'small) is that the first time you watch it, you may have a hard time understanding Shirley. Her British accent is rather hard, but once you've watched it a number of times (and I'm sure you will want to) you get used to the accent.

Shirley Valentine is a housewife. That's it. Just a housewife. She cooks, she cleans, she shops, mostly she talks to herself, and in this poignant film, she talks to us as well, the viewer. It's hard to get used to at first. A film with a woman all alone in a dreary apartment talking to herself, but you soon get past that one little oddity, and Shirley Valentine becomes real. Her life is so similar to millions of other 'just housewives' that if she didn't finally decide to go on a trip to Greece with a friend, there would have been no movie. Shirley loses her housewife persona in Greece, and after much inner turmoil and emotional self-battering, comes of age again within herself. It's a very beautiful and moving story, one most middle aged women can relate to quite well. I rooted Shirley on through out the movie. More than anything I wanted her to find herself, because the film is so good you believe, if only for a short time, that it is you going through this with Shirley. Shirley is no hero, she is no female icon and does not become anyone's object of worship, she just becomes herself, which turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to this movie.

Delicious movie with Pauline Collins repeating her star role as the lead character in this wonderful, touching, hilarious movie of a woman who makes an emphatic statement for expecting and demanding more out of life. She takes off for Greece for a vacation, then just decides not to go home. Her little asides to the audience, looking straight into the camera, are priceless. And who will forget her feeding the vegetarian neighbor's dog her husband's steak - and the husband shoving the substitute eggs across the table and into her lap (the defining moment when she decided Greece was in her future). [...]
Well.
Anyway, don't miss it! And recommend it to all your friends.

You might embrace the message of "Shirley Valentine" the way I did - as a clue to all men. Not as a threat, but merely a window into the very human need to remain vital. Shirley knows she's middle-aged, frumpy, regarded as a piece of furniture by her husband and grown children. But she also knows there's still life in her heart, a need to blend with other life outside her dreary existence. She knows she need not fade away just because her husband is oblivious to her status as a live human being, with needs, desires, opinions, and sense of humor. She acts on her survival instinct, which is to fulfill a dream of visiting Greece. And a visit is what it started out to be! But while there, with opportunity for her brain and her spirit to renew and revitalize, she makes decisions along the way that lead to a satisfying ending. Going to Greece is not the solution for all of us, but the taking-charge-of-your-own-destiny idea is. This movie should be required watching for all women, and men! It's a message to each other, as well as to ourselves - like sending a Hallmark card that expresses that which we might find difficult to express - that says "Hey, let's all remember that we are human beings, with a right to live a full and vibrant life." Shirley Valentine is a "feel-good" movie. Like "The Doctor" and "Saving Private Ryan", Shirley Valentine should have it's place on every shelf, part of your video-multivitamin store.

I think Pauline Collins should have won an Oscar for this performance. She is so totally believable as Shirley, and the first time I saw this film I was 42 with the same life, the same husband and even the same wall. The film hit my soul so deeply that I pulled a "Shirley", and it shook my husband up so badly he put a poster of Greece right next to our bed to remind him that he could wake up alone one day. It is, and always will be my favorite film. I guess that we all wish to be the girl that we used to be.

Just to let you all know that the Shirley Valentine DVD has just been released in the UK. Superb sound and picture quality and showing 'full screen'.

Hopefully all our friends over the pond will be able soon to enjoy the movie on this much better format.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen "Shirley Valentine", but I love it more with each viewing. It lifts my spirit, makes me laugh and motivates me to never give up. When I auditioned for a play several years ago I did some dialogue from SV ("...that was the sweetest kiss...") and I got the part! For me it was an added bonus to this wonderfully sweet and brilliant film about life and love. Pauline Collins is the best!

The play was wonderful - a monologue - that has been fleshed out for the movie by the appearance of the characters that Shirley only described onstage. As usually happens, things get lost from stage to screen. (Shirley's hilarious description of her son's performance in the Christmas play is sorely missed!) But there is a moment in the play and the film when Shirley is reflecting on Joe's (her husband) boredom and disenchantment with her. In the play, however, she doesn't hold Joe entirely responsible. "It's the same for him" Shirley admits. Many of us find in middle age that we have lost something. When Joe arrives in Greece, buttoned up and formal, Shirley Bradshaw asks Joe to "have a drink with Shirley Valentine". The olive branch - and a hand up - is being extended. One thing that I truly liked about the film was that the ending wasn't tied up neatly in a feel good way. There's a story that comes after the ending but the film makers were wise enough not to beat us over the head with it. I suppose you could say that this film has a feminist message but it touched me as a man and I think that it will any person who has gotten lost on their way through life.

This is one of my very favorite movies of all time. It has an uplifting, powerful message for ANY woman, but we 40-somethings will especially appreciate it!:)

I completely and totally agree with others who ask WHY isn't this movie available on Region 1 DVD? There are so very many of us here in the U.S. who would jump at the chance to have this in a format other than VHS!