An exploration of the life of Beatrix Potter, the author of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” the beloved and best-selling children’s classic. The film tells the story of Potter’s (Zellweger) love for her publisher Norman Wayne (McGregor) and her strong attempt for an independent life during a time when society expected woman of her class simply to make a good marriage.
The movie concentrates on only a few years in the life of Potter, who privately published her first book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” in 1901. It proved so popular that she took it back to a publisher who had originally rejected it; he reconsidered once she agreed to reillustrate it in color. Published in 1902, it was an enormous hit. Once Potter achieves financial independence, the movie dawdles on pleasantly as she buys Hill Top, a farm in the Lake District, in 1905. She later finds romance with a lawyer, William Heelis (Lloyd Owen), whom she would marry in 1913. – NYT
Starring Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson.