Review: Miss Meadows

Miss Mary Meadows (Katie Holmes) strolls down a leafy suburban neighbourhood like Snow White come to life. Garbed in a lovely floral print dress, bobby socks and saddle shoes, a ribbon in her hair, white gloves on her hands, she exudes cheer as she tap dances and talks with the birds and squirrels. She's like a kid playing dress up, but she certainly doesn't play well with others. When a driver starts chatting her up and tells her to get into his car, she reaches into her pocketbook, pulls out a .25 and shoots him dead. Cue opening credits.

Prim and proper and armed with the best of manners, Miss Meadows is "substituting at a low-income, racially-mixed, bottom-scoring, first grade classroom" where she teaches children that the most important things in life are kindness and courage. She soon catches the eye of a local cop she nicknames Sheriff (James Badge Dale), who's puzzled and attracted by her old-fashionedness and eccentricity. Not many people would illegally park their car to check on a toad's condition after all.

The two begin a courtship that becomes tested when recently released convict Skylar (a creepy Callan Mulvey) moves into the neighbourhood. "It's our responsibility to make [the world] a better place," Miss Meadows intones to one of her pupils. Her vigilantism is already being investigated by Sheriff and his department. When he receives a composite of the suspected crimefighter, he wonders if his sweetheart could be the "Pulp Fiction Mary Poppins."

Written and directed by Karen Leigh Hopkins, Miss Meadows joins the small circle of female vigilante films. Though not as exploitive as 1985's Avenging Angel with former prostitute turned law student Angel hunting down her guardian's killer, Miss Meadows skews closer in tone to John Waters' black comedy Serial Mom starring Kathleen Turner as the chipper housewife doubling as a serial killer. Aside from the opening kill, there's Miss Meadows' encounter with a gunman who's shot all the customers at a local hot dog eatery. When the gunman wails that he wants to kill himself, she provides encouragement - after all, he would just be a waste of taxpayers' money if he remained alive.

The third act of the film veers into darker Ms. 45 territory when a traumatic incident from her past sheds light on her motivation and Skylar's menacing presence becomes inescapable. The transition is not too smoothly handles, though the more somber material enlivens Holmes. With her mournful eyes and dimpled smile, she's consistently shown an affinity for angstier fare but does a fine job at conveying a sunniness that's not too saccharine. Miss Mary Meadows is undoubtedly her best performance and she knocks it out of the park.

Miss Meadows

Directed by: Karen Leigh Hopkins

Written by: Karen Leigh Hopkins

Starring: Katie Holmes, James Badge Dale, Callan Mulvey, Jean Smart, Stephen Bishop, Ava Kolker