The Chaperone is a slender, selective view of an enduring legend

There is a great movie just begging to be made from the life story of the late, great Hollywood screen siren Louise Brooks. But The Chaperone is not that movie.

There is a great movie just begging to be made from the life story of the late, great Hollywood screen siren Louise Brooks.

Let’s be right upfront and declare that The Chaperone is not that movie.

The rags-to-riches-to-ruin-to-redemption arc traced by Brooks, a trailblazer on several fronts in the silent era, is ignored by this pleasant little trifle of a flick.

While The Chaperone is still eminently watchable, the slender, selective view we get of the endlessly intriguing Brooks will slightly annoy those familiar with her enduring legend. (Do yourself a favour and look up Brooks on Wikipedia, or check out a few clips of her work on YouTube. You will not be sorry you did so.)

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Hayley Lu Richardson stars as a younger Louise Brooks.

A true-ish tale based on the 2012 bestseller by Laura Moriarty, The Chaperone has been scripted in typically lively and playful fashion by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

After some brief backstory establishment in rural Kansas, the bulk of the movie tracks Brooks’ first steps on the road to fame and (mis)fortune during a tumultuous trip to New York City.

The thankless task of keeping tabs on the headstrong, capricious and man-magnetising Louise (well played by rising star Haley Lu Richardson) falls to her dowdy hometown chaperone Mrs Norma Carlisle (Elizabeth McGovern).

Elizabeth McGovern (left) plays her dowdy hometown chaperone Mrs Norma Carlisle.

If anything, we end up getting more Norma than we bargained for (via subplots fleshing out her past as an adopted child and unhappy housewife) and a lot less Louise (who does unveil her iconic and much-copied hairdo during the trip) than we want.

Not a lot of note happens, but the energy given off by The Chaperone is infectiously upbeat, and the lush, early-1920s production design is not short on sights for sore eyes.

THE CHAPERONE (PG)

Rating: Three stars (3 out of 5)

Director: Michael Engler (feature debut)

Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Elizabeth McGovern, Campbell Scott, Miranda Otto.

A watchful eye won’t always see the bigger picture

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