Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
another gem buried by mis-advertising, February 1, 2005
It took 18 years before luck brought me to this movie. The title and the cover art suggest a silly TV-style slapstick mixed bag. The movie is nothing of the sort. It has funny moments, but basicly it is a heartfelt story of growing up and what it means to grow up, of forming caring relationships with friends, lovers and relatives. The mechanism used is to force a privileged person to experience what it is like to live as the "other half" lives. The pacing is perfect, there is not a false step anywhere, and there could have been so many. And it is supported by some of the best music of Georges Delerue. See if with your kids if you have any, but see it for yourself. It will make your day, or your week.
If you want to see this movie for the acting or because you're a fan of this person or that, fine. I didn't know any of these actors, nor did I care. The play's the thing, and this one is great. And by the way, the picture quality on my DVD was fine.
Another footnote: There's nothing wrong with slapstick per se. There's good slapstick and bad, but there isn't any slapstick in this movie. If that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere. Don't attack this movie because it isn't a different type of movie. And don't insult other people because they point out that this isn't that type of movie.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
So what's wrong with a little slapstick?, May 10, 2005
People who generally turn up their noses at slapstick and/or cartoonish comedy because it's beneath them are missing a lot of amusing entertainments in life. I saw "Maid to Order" first in the theater(where it came and went)and then on cable, where it finally found an audience. By now, everybody's seen at least part of it, and it's a highly enjoyable confection. Ally Sheedy is both too refined and too mature to be completely convincing as a spoiled brat living with her philanthropist dad, but she improves(as does the picture)and wins our affections. Supporting cast is even better, with Michael Ontkean a nicely low-keyed Prince Charming(he doesn't push his handsomeness and is very natural in an aw-shucks kind of way), Merry Clayton as a cook who used to be a singer(she's get down with Great White!), and Beverly D'Angelo as a wiseacre fairy godmother. What?! Fairy Godmothers in the 1980's? Yes, and it works surprisingly well. Some of the editing is sloppy, and some of Sheedy's outburts are shrill, but the film is an embraceable one and should charm even the cynics.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-Done Retelling of a Classic Tale, March 9, 2005
"Maid to Order" is a rarity in Hollywood; a low-budget film based on a classic story that ends up being funny, clever and heart-warming. Admittedly there are moments when Ally Sheedy's poor little rich girl act is a bit over-the-top, but when she is being other than a stereotype she is believable and sympathetic.
Jessie Montgomery (Sheedy) is the daughter of a wealthy Charles Montgomery (Tom Skerritt). Tom's role in this movie is relatively small, and nearly unimportant as he mainly tries (and fails) to figure out how to deal with his relatively uncontrollable daughter and is later studiously aloof when fairy godmother Stella Winston (Beverly D'Angelo) changes things as though Jessie had never been born. Tom is important from the plot of the movie, however, as Stella was actually sent to help Charles Montgomery, at least, so Stella says.
Jessie comes home one morning after a late night party to discover that her father and the household staff do not know her. Jessie escapes the house, looking ever more bedraggled. She tries to buy candy from a machine, only to have her money taken. Finally, she decides to look for (gasp!) a job. She happens to walk into an employment agency just as a status-seeking couple Stan and Georgette Starkey (Dick Shawn and Valerie Perrine) are seeking a white maid (who would have guessed that one?).
Things have hit a low for Jessie as the Starkeys and their own spoiled daughter Brie Starkey (Rainbow Phoenix) turn out to be a pain for the hired help, micromanaging, money-grubbing, and more about image than substance. The obvious irony being that Jessie now gets to see what life is like on the working class side of the fence, albeit a stereotypical view.
However, the importance of Jessie's new position is how she sees the cook, the other maid and the chauffeur. As a spoiled rich girl she barely recognized that anyone other than her social peers were even human, and now she gets to see that each person has their own history, their own problems, their own hopes and their own dreams, and theirs are far more substantial than whether they will have to miss out on the debutante party of the year. Even more amazing, regardless of how much of a jerk Jessie initially is, these people actually give her more of a chance than she would have given them; this movie abounds with irony.
As is typically the case in movies, it is always darkest before the dawn, and people who truly deserve chances get them, and those who need a kick in the pants get their just deserts, or at least a flavor of them. The true magic of the film, beyond that of Stella Winston, is how Jessie evolves to learn how to think of others, which I leave to the viewer to discover for themselves.
There is a lot of predictability in this movie, and you could probably have guessed some of the ending, but I was unable to guess more than generalities, and that is a good thing. Further, the movie was sweet enough and funny enough to be worth buying and watching over again. Some of the charm may be from the supporting roles. Beverly D'Angelo is funny and clever as the fairy godmother. Merry Clayton does an excellent job as Audrey James, once a famous singer and now the cook. The other numerous roles give this movie a depth and character that I was not expecting from this relatively unknown comedy.
This movie's humor is from the irony of Jessie's situation, and most of the comedy works. The humor is often subtle, and some may not see the humor, but for everyone else, this movie is a keeper.
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