Mrs. Henderson Presents is a rather cute production purportedly based on a true story about an elderly widow who buys an old theater on a whim in pre-WWII London. It's surprisingly amusing and spry, trying for a politely naughty tone.

When Mrs. Henderson (Judi Dench) and her theater manager Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins) find business is flagging, they decide the best way to bring in the crowds is to offer young ladies posing nude. The film acknowledges the public's omnipresent taste for naked ladies in a tasteful fashion, and that actually creates a certain longing for a time when such displays could be considered tasteful at all.

Whether that time ever really existed isn't truly the issue here; maybe it did in some people's minds, and this is what it was like to be able to applaud live nudity as *wink* art and not something as lurid as pornography. This sounds funny, and it is, with a tart Dench, an irascible Hoskins, and a high-minded Christopher Guest providing a delightful journey. Also, Kelly Reilly provides much of the, um, scenery, but she also turns in a pleasantly warm and sympathetic supporting character in the process.

Unfortunately, the movie forgets its sense of humor in the last act, taking a few unwelcome dramatic turns, and it feels like a bit of a letdown in the end. It's saved overall by vintage Dench and Hoskins, doing what they do best. (Capsule review.)

(Released by The Weinstein Company and rated "R" for nudity and brief language.)

Also posted on www.windowtothemovies.com.

Read the ReelTalk interview with director Stephen Frears.