Waste of time

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Victoria Wood (who we miss terribly) was best known for being a stand-up performer, but it's important to remember that she was also a very good writer, penning the brilliant 'Eric and Ernie' and this one off 'Housewife, 49'.It combines all the warmth and humour we came to expect from Wood, with also a good sense of historical accuracy and a list of well known actors in support for Wood, who takes the lead.I couldn't say that it was my favourite of the TV drama's she wrote, but Wood was certainly deserving of the acclaim that she earnt for this well written TV drama.

"Housewife, 49" is a remarkable film in how it captures a picture of life that commonly goes unseen. Victoria Wood, the star of the film, is quite good. She offers a performance that's very easy to get into, full of emotional complexity and human depth. I was quite impressed by David Threlfall, who plays Wood's husband here. He convincingly captures a certain generation and personality of man that you don't often see on film. Not abusive or offensive, but emotionally distance and overly self-controlled. Stephanie Cole is good, but she isn't given much to work with here. The script tends to wander a bit too much at times. The entire subplot revolving around people reading the letters seems tacked-on and ultimately unnecessary.I'm glad I saw this. It offers up a close human insight. The TV movie format holds things down a bit, but the best is made of it. "Housewife, 49" is a good film.

Comidienne Victoria Wood makes a surprisingly good straight actress in this drama, which lovingly recreates the atmosphere of the 1940s. Based on the real diaries of a depressed woman unexpectedly liberated by the war, it is, however, possessed of a certain slowness and obviousness, although the individual scenes are immaculately constructed. Overall, it lacks the human depth of Mike Leigh's 'Vera Drake', another portrait of the same times, as well as that film's dramatic intent. But it's funny to see David Threlfall playing a very different, but equally useless, man of the house, following his turn as Frank Gallacher in 'Shameless'.

I enjoyed this drama very much. The language , turn of phrases, and mores were of their time . Many wartime dramas are ruined by bad research and a tendency to modernise the script to 'make it appeal to the younger folk' a habit I abhor but seen a lot in the 70's and 80's.. One suspected that the son was 'gay' (a term never used in this context at the time) and I thought oh, here we go, they are making it trendy, but Nellas incomprehension when her Son tells her that the love of his life was a sailor (Fleet Air Arm) killed in action shows. These things were 'never discussed ' in polite circles in those days. Very good, historically accurate drama.