The Chaperone

This movie The Chaperone is based on the novel writen by Laura Moriarty that I read several years ago and enjoyed.  The screenplay is written by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame, and the connection to Downton is high as it is set in the 1920s, and the main character Nora Sinclair is played by Elizabeth McGovern, Lady Cora on Downton.  Agreeing to chaperone the teenage Louise Brooks, a promising dance student to New York, with both women knowing little about each other. 

I did enjoy the costumes and hats in the movie, but felt that it dragged a little in the middle and that it had lost a little of the magic of the book.  When you look at movies and photos of Louise Brooks online, she was amazingly stunning and had a certain something or charisma that makes her just shine, and although the actress playing her was cute, she was not as dazzling as the real Louise.   What I did enjoy was that it was a movie centered around two women and their slightly odd friendship, and that teenagers were still shocking their elders a hundred years ago.  Also I have never seen an apartment with a toilet in the bedroom, and a bath in the kitchen.   Still I have to give it a 4/5 as I'd be happy to watch it again in the future.

Our movie experience was a little marred too by the rambling drunk woman who sat down next to us and continued to try and strike up conversation with my friend.  She reeked of alcohol which was somewhat surprising since she seemed almost seventy years old and it we were seeing the movie at the 12:20 session. 

The Chaperone - Laura Moriarty

The Chaperone - Laura Moriarty (2012)

It is so satisfying to pick up a book and think that you will enjoy it, and to love it immensely and don't want it to end.

It is 1922 and  Cora is a stay at home housewife with two grown sons, and is married to a local lawyer. She volunteers to take on the role of chaperone, to local fifteen year old dancer Louise Brooks who is to attend a dance school in New York for the summer.

Once both women travel to New York and get settled in, we get to learn about both of them and their pasts.  I enjoyed both stories, and felt like I could picture them hanging out together.  I also enjoyed the fact that in the 1920s times were changing, and that many women were looking at the restrictions that they faced and changing them.

For me it was a wow - a 5/5 as I loved the time it was set in, the writing, the characters and the stories they told.