Some movies make it almost impossible to critique them.
They mean oh, so well, feature performances honed to perfection and lack the oversized ambition to fall on their face.
So goes “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” an indie charmer with pluck to burn.
Based on the 1958 novel by Paul Gallico, “Mrs. Harris” offers a gentle exploration of social inequities seen from a maid’s point of view. Lesley Manville gives the title character so much heart, depth and twinkle she’s irresistible.
Why the film changes gears so abruptly, leaving the wondrous Manville temporarily adrift in a socialist subplot, is anyone’s guess.
Manville stars as Ada Harris, a hard-working maid mourning her husband’s wartime death long after hostilities wrapped. So she buries herself in her work, cleaning...