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Happy Friday to all except for the wood chipper outside my building! I send the same regards to the chainsaws that woke up me last weekend and probably will this one too (a bunch of pine trees outside my apartment are apparently diseased, sadly).
Back to Forget About It Friday. I had never heard of this movie until it showed up on Hulu under “Academy Award Nominees” and I was intrigued because based on the movie poster, it didn’t look like typical Oscar bait. And it turns out to be delightful!
Shirley Valentine (1989)
Provided description: Bored with her suburban life, Shirley takes a chance on adventure when a friend invites her on a vacation to Greece.
Where to watch: Hulu or Amazon Prime
Shirley Valentine is 42 and a homemaker in Liverpool, England. Since this was originally a one-woman play, Shirley spends the entire film breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the camera, a rare move in cinema. It works here, though. You can sense her lonely, bored desperation despite the cheerful disposition trying to mask it.
Shirley tells us about her neighbors, her kids (a bratty daughter and a punk poet son), and her husband, Joe. There’s a couple cute scenes of Shirley and Joe back in their early days when they were young and in love. Now, as empty nesters, they’re stuck in ruts and unfortunately, he’s an asshole.
Looking back on her school days, Shirley had big dreams but went to a Catholic school that constantly put her down (tell me about it, girl) and out of discouragement, she became a rebellious youth. She hikes up her uniform skirt, smokes during recess, and drops out before A-Levels (I still don’t completely understand that aspect of British schooling but I believe those are the testing necessary to attend university). Instead of traveling and seeing the world, she spends her days talking to the wall in her kitchen. Even most of her old friendships have faded over the years. She feels old and full of regrets. Shirley had always wanted to sit by the sea with a glass of wine and she’s never done it.
While out shopping on a rainy day, Shirley has a chance encounter with a former school rival, Marjorie (Patsy from Ab Fab!!). Shirley wasn’t very nice to Marjorie out of jealousy and she’s expecting Marjorie to be mean back. Instead, Marjorie is very sweet and says she always admired Shirley’s rebelliousness. It gets a little awkward when Shirley expects Marjorie to be an “air hostess for Concorde” and rather, Marjorie reveals she’s a high class call girl. Still, it subverted Shirley’s expectations and how she looks at her own life.
Back in the kitchen, Shirley tells us that her friend Jane won a magazine contest— a two-week trip for two to Greece— and Jane, a divorcee, invites Shirley to come along. You can tell this movie is 30 years old because publishing still had the ad money to give away such things.
At first, Shirley says no. She can’t take a trip!! What about Joe??! Shirley acts like her husband is a toddler and it turns out not to be far from the truth. She tells him about the trip and before she can even mention Jane, he’s like, “No way! I don’t want to to go Greece!” Uh, okay, dude, way to make it all about you as usual.
It all comes to a head when Shirley serves Joe chips and eggs instead of his typical Thursday chips and steak. “I always eat chips and steak on Thursday!” he yells like a toddler before throwing his plate across the table. Chips and eggs fall into a greasy pile in her lap. Again, he is a grown ass man acting like a toddler. She gets up from the table, so calm it’s scary, and with that, she decides she’s going.
Shirley is nervous the day they’re supposed to leave for the trip. She keeps going back and forth if she’s doing the right thing. Then, ding-dong, that’s the doorbell, and wow, it turns out it’s her ding-dong of a daughter. Her daughter is very self-centered and bullies her mother into making her a cup of cocoa. Shirley is spooning in more sugar when she’s like, wait a second here, no way, and tells the daughter about the trip. The daughter freaks out and leaves again.
For a split second, Shirley is like, what am I thinking, I’m 42 for goodness sake, I’m too old, I can’t go on this trip, and just as I’m like, GIRL YOU’RE ~ONLY~ 42, she comes to the same conclusion. “I’m only 42!!”
Ding-dong, the doorbell again, and it’s a neighbor who always acted superior to Shirley. This time, her neighbor came with a robe for the trip and tells Shirley that she admires her for doing what she wants. It’s the confirmation Shirley needed.
While inflight, Jane meets a guy and they go off together to his villa as soon as the plane lands. Shirley is alone for the first time in years. She runs into a bunch of her fellow countrymen and they are the British version of the Ugly Americans. Shirley distances herself from them and does her own thing.
And Greece! It looks so gorgeous. Really, I’d go anywhere right about now, but Greece looks especially lovely.
Shirley finally gets that glass of wine next to the sea. However, she doesn’t feel the way she expected. Through tears, she says:
I have allowed myself to lead this little life, when inside me there was so much more. And it's all gone unused. And now it never will be. Why do we get all this life if we don't ever use it? Why do we get all these feelings and dreams and hopes if we don't ever use them?
The next day, Jane finally shows up but Shirley has plans with Costas, the bartender from the night before. They have a whirlwind romance on his brother’s boat and when she gets to shore, Jane thinks Shirley is in love with Costas. “I’m not in love with him,” she says, “I’m in love with living.” She finds the passion for life she’s been missing all these years.
It’s the day of their departure and Shirley is reluctant to leave. At the airport, she watches her suitcase roll away on the conveyor belt and you know it’s supposed to symbolize her rolling back into her old life. Her friend goes through security (a mere metal detector) but when Jane turns back, Shirley has already run out of the door.
Back at the bar, she finds Costas putting the moves on another tourist, reusing some of his best lines. Shirley smiles a little and when he notices her in the doorway, he freaks out, thinking she’ll be upset to see him with another woman. Instead, she’s like, it’s cool, dude, I’m just looking for a job. And he’s like, a job?! Shirley is all, "Maybe someone should run this place while you’re on your brother’s boat,” and he can’t argue with that.
At the airport, Jane leaves Shirley’s suitcase at Joe’s feet (“Sorry.”) and he’s left alone holding an armload of flowers. While Shirley was gone, Joe realized he can’t live without her (the messy kitchen is a testament to that) and he’s furious that she didn’t come home.
In a voiceover, Joe calls and tells her about how she’s made a fool of them and needs to come back. All the while, Shirley is riding vespas, strolling through the market, and just straight up enjoying her life. Her perm grows out and her skin glows. Girl is thriving. Why in the world would she want to go back to Liverpool?
Joe is finally convinced by his punk-poet son to go to Greece and see Shirley. She’s having her wine by the sea when she spies him in the distance struggling with a suitcase. She slips on a pair of sunglasses and when he finally gets near, he walks on by without a second glance.
“Joe?” she says. He turns around and his eyes bug out. “I didn’t even recognize you.” “I know,” she says. “I used to The Mother. I used to The Wife. And now I’m Shirley Valentine again.”
She invites him to have a glass of wine with her and we watch them chatting from the distance as the sun sets. THE END
Highs
Pauline Collins! What a charming performance. She won a BAFTA, a Tony, and an Olivier, with an Oscar nod to boot.
Those Greek islands are just beautiful. God, I missed traveling.
This movie apparently had such an impact on Greek tourism (particularly the island of Mykonos) that to this day, the featured beachfront is still called Shirley Valentine Beach.
It’s only a brief scene, but Shirley visits her son (who is basically a squatter) and I think it’s supposed to be a subtle dig at Thatcher-era working class conditions.
Here’s a real-life Shirley Valentine story for ya.
Lows
Not exactly progressive when it comes to gender roles. Joe is a big ol’ jerk. The ending is ambiguous and you have to hope she stays.
The bit with Marjorie hasn’t aged well.
The actor who played Costas is actually Scottish, not Greek!
Final Verdict
I enjoyed it! This movie falls into one of my favorite sub-genres, Woman Goes On Vacation and It Changes Her Life (see also: Under the Tuscan Sun, Last Holiday, Muriel’s Wedding). I think my favorite part is it’s not about the romance between Shirley and a man but Shirley and herself.
Thank you for coming along on this all-expense paid trip to Mykonos with me, Andrea Valentine! Any typos, weird spacing, or grammar mistakes are the result of my fallible fingers. Links to my social and website can be found below. If you wish, you can buy me a cup of coffee here or here (thank you, I really appreciate it). Any questions or comments, feel free to send them along.
@andrealaurion | andrealaurion.com | @andrealaurion