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Too often Judi Dench is relegated to supporting characters on screen; her incredible talent often gives the impression that her cameos are in fact more significant - she famously won an Oscar for a paltry (if scene-stealing) five minutes in Shakespeare In Love. In Mrs. Henderson Presents, she is at last given a meaty lead role which she seizes with relish. Starring as a wealthy widow who channels her considerable energies into opening The Windmill, a Soho theatre in wartime London that specialised in nude revues, she pounces on every scene, beautifully delivering some very funny exchanges. She also generates considerable chemistry with Bob Hoskins as her taciturn business partner.
Although ostensibly a comic showcase, the film delivers some very touching moments; there is a moving monologue at the film's climax in which Mrs. Henderson justifies her decision to use nudes in her stage shows, whilst her endearing if misguided attempts to interfere in the love lives of her performers betray the sentimentality underneath her unsinkable persona. The period detail is a joy; the costume designs, as well as Dench herself, received Oscar nominations. All in all, a witty, touching delight.

 

Rebecca Hunter on 1st March 2006