Tea With Mussolini (1999)

This lush, frothy coming-of-age story provides its cast full of British and American grande dames with plenty of beautiful locations and gently comic, slightly cloak-and-dagger scenarios in which to strut their famous personae and acting chops. Cher makes her most enjoyable screen outing in a decade as Elsa, a larger-than-life diva with more affection for her art collection than her many husbands. Lily Tomlin plays another fun, self-mocking lesbian role, while Judi Dench and Maggie Smith work their respective regal and ridiculous schticks to amusing effect. Writer/director Franco Zeffirelli seems to view his war-ravaged childhood through vaguely rose-tinted glasses; the title is meant to be a gentle jab at the proper biddies whose faith in the moral might of the British Empire blinded them to the danger creeping through Europe, but there's a sense here that fascism is simply a backdrop to Auntie Mame-style shenanigans. Although co-writer John Mortimer worked on the screenplay to subtle psycho-horror classic The Innocents, his work here is closer to the hamminess of the Otto Preminger oddity Bunny Lake Is Missing. Still, cinematographer David Watkin and the art team buff the visuals into a gorgeous Merchant-Ivory finish, and the charismatic performances will please fans of low-calorie, vaguely historical treats. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide