An Awfully Big Adventure

A misleading title and a different type of performance from Hugh Grant are two of the offbeat features of An Awfully Big Adventure. Virginal theatre fanatic Stella (Georgina Cates), who speaks with her dead mother by phone, joins a theatrical troupe in 1947 England headed by manipulative director Meredith Potter (Grant). Stella quickly falls for Potter, but he doesn't return her affections, driving her into the arms of the troupe's arrogant star, P.L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman). O'Hara eventually takes Stella's virginity, although she secretly remains devoted to Potter. More secrets of the troupe are revealed at the story's climax, although nothing is really resolved to any of the characters' satisfaction. Not quite a satire and not quite a drama, An Awfully Big Adventure is occasionally mean-spirited and frequently dour, which may just be a result of its subject matter.