Shirley Valentine

As an adaptation of the one-character play, it’s a delight to see Pauline Collins as Shirley Valentine rip into the signature monologue through fourth wall breaks– ranting, bantering, and raving to us about the unique follies of mundane domesticity. Collin maintains the same comedic timing and wittiness of the titular character that has captivated Liverpool, and then London, at the time. However, while critics found it easy to dismiss the script as a series of superficial, stagy ramblings, Valentine genuinely searches for life purpose, for herself, for her soul, confronting her younger aspirations, the box she was essentially crammed into due to marriage expectations, and the life that she sacrificed for family’s sake. Shirley Valentine may not have gotten the acclaim succeeding female mid-life crisis films have gotten, but it’s an underrated classic comedy that many can enjoy.

Wondering what has happened to herself, now feeling stagnant and in a rut, Shirley Valentine finds herself regularly talking to the wall while preparing her husband's chips and egg. When her best friend wins a trip-for-two to Greece Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.