Dir. Marc Munden, 2003, UK/Germany, 90 mins
Cast: Christina Ricci, John Simm, Kyle MacLachlan, John Hurt
Frank Baraclough (Simm) is a bored librarian in a northern town, bored that is, until a mysterious young American woman (Ricci) starts hanging around at the library for no apparent reason. When Miranda, for no apparent reason, asks to view the library's lecture theatre, Frank takes a chance and asks her out. Despite an initial reserve Miranda succumbs to Frank's honesty and kindness, and soon moves in with him. Frank is smitten but Miranda is preoccupied by her mysterious job and by whispered phone calls with her shady employer Christian (Hurt). Without warning she packs and leaves - as Frank narrates "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, girl fucks off in a Taxi." Following her to London, Frank begins to fear that Miranda isn't what she seems and that she may be involved in some decidedly dodgy business. But then wasn't it her air of Mystery that attracted him in the first place?
Miranda is a romantic comedy with dark touches from Marc Munden - better known for television work like Vanity Fair and most recently, The Knight's Tale for the BBC's Canterbury Tales series. In fact, Munden's lead from The Knight's Tale John Simm, stars here too as the suitably named northerner, Frank Barraclough. Simm is appealing in the role and his narration, particularly in the early stages, provides a good few laughs. Likewise John Hurt is on form as Christian, Miranda's dubious boss. But by now these shady characters must be like a walk in the park for Hurt, in fact he literally phones in his performance for half the film. Many of the funniest moments involve Miranda's strange relations with one of her clients, Nailor. Kyle MacLachlan gives a great turn as the twisted masochistic businessman who Ricci wraps around her little finger. Like one of the creepy characters from the David Lynch films in which he more often played the straight guy, MacLachlan whimpers and growls his way though the film and is the perfect counterpart to Simm's decent, stable Frank. The fantastic Christina Ricci is also well cast in the double-edged role of Miranda but just as her identity is revealed throughout, so is the plot, and ultimately, the latter is somewhat flimsy. Whilst Munden keeps firm control of the film's romantic centre, the crime thriller elements which surrounded it are chaotic and unsatisfying. In the end Miranda struggles to keep pace with its 'smartsexydangerous' tagline, but despite the unevenness, it's a sick, sweet and funny concoction with a few wonderful moments and great performances all round.
Elizabeth Griffin
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