NPR

'Downton' Flabby: Period Piece 'The Chaperone' Is A Let-Down

There's plenty of 'Downton Abbey' DNA in this tale of prim Norma (Elizabeth McGovern) who shepherds young Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) to NYC; there's also a leaden script and thin characters.
In <em>The Chaperone, </em>Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) seeks a future as a dancer in 1920's New York.

Norma Carlisle, the 1920s Wichita wife and mother played by Elizabeth McGovern in The Chaperone, is literally tight-laced. When the movie opens, she always wears a corset. No prizes for guessing that, before the story ends, Norma will shed the constricting metaphorical garment.

A tale of liberation shackled by leaden writing, offers an entertaining premise, but never renders it very convincing. Scripter Julian Fellowes and director Michael Engler are principals, as is McGovern, who's one of the movie's producers. Perhaps their involvement explains why the PBS production looks and feels like a particularly wan made-for-TV production.

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