By Mark Fields
Potty-Mouthed Trifle Turns Familiar British Comedy On Ear
There is a subgenre of British period movie comedies that depicts the eccentricities of village life as a comedy of manners, finding droll humor in the quaint interactions of people who know each other far too well and who get into each other’s business way too much. American audiences, and perhaps British ones as well, find delight in these exercises in quirky behavior, especially when delivered with an English accent.
Set in 1920s Littlehampton and loosely based on a true story. Wicked Little Letters turns this subgenre on its ear by peppering the village’s inhabitants with an heavy dose of salty, or ”wicked,” language delivered in anonymous letters. The missives at first are directed at a sanctimonious spinster, Edith Swan (Olivia Colman). She and her parents quickly lay the blame, without proof, at the feet of their next-door neighbor, Rose (Jessie Buckley), an earthy, even profane young Irish immigrant.
Rose denies sending the letters, but small-town prejudices being what they are, she finds herself arrested and up for trial. A young female police officer, Gladys (Anjana Visan), herself the target of misogynistic biases from patronizing male officers, begin to doubt whether Rose is actually the culprit.
Despite its basis in history, the premise of Wicked Little Letters is really a paper-thin trifle on which to hang a movie. And, it really only succeeds due to the moviegoing public’s appetite for English provincial comedies and the enthusiastic commitment of its talented cast – which also includes Timothy Spall, Eileen Atkins, and Joanna Scanlan in supporting roles.
Nothing substantial or especially memorable here, but for lovers of twee comedy with just a touch of wickedness, the movie is sufficiently entertaining.
