David Hayman, Celia Imrie, Joanna Lumley, Imelda Staunton and Timothy Spall take to the stage in Finding Your Feet.Tom Vandeputte/Entertainment One
- Finding Your Feet
- Directed by Richard Loncraine
- Written by Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft
- Starring Timothy Spall and Imelda Staunton
- Classification PG; 109 minutes
Oh dear. This is one of those British light entertainments that pop up every few years, jam-packed with thespians having a jolly time making something commercial for the simple folk.
Snooty Sandra (Imelda Staunton) lives for and through her titled hubby. But he’s smashing her best friend! So she drags her embossed luggage to the council flat of her carefree sister Bif (Celia Imrie). Soon enough she stops turning up her nose and starts getting down at Bif’s dance class, alongside wicked Jackie (Joanna Lumley) and sweet Charlie (Timothy Spall). A video of the dancers goes viral and they’re invited to perform on the continent. Cue the gentle romance, teary funeral and inspirational life lessons.
The whole thing should be harmless enough – the actors are such old hands, they can pull off this plucky stuff in their sleep. Except for one ruinous thing: The dance sequences are unforgivably awful. How can a film shot in London, where world-class choreographers can be found tripping over each other on every street corner, wind up with two left feet?
Johanna Schneller