Plenty (film)

Plenty is a 1985 American drama film directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Meryl Streep. It was adapted from David Hare's play of the same name.

Spanning nearly 20 years from the early 1940s to the 1960s, the plot focuses on Susan Traherne, an Englishwoman who is irreparably changed by her experiences as a fighter for the French Resistance during World War II when she has a one-night stand with a British intelligence agent. After the war ends, Susan returns to England and becomes determined to make a life for herself by achieving what she wishes in the post-war world which, after her time away, she finds trivial and inadequate, while acting with complete disregard for everybody around her.

Plot
The film centers around the life of Susan Traherne (Meryl Streep), a British woman who becomes a courier for the British during World War II. In 1943, Susan waits in the woods for a message to be dropped by parachute when Lazar (Sam Neill), another British operative, parachutes down after experiencing airplane trouble. They escape German troops and Susan opens up emotionally to Lazar. They make love, but he leaves abruptly the next morning.

Two years later, Susan is with a man named Tony Radley when he suddenly dies of a heart attack. Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) from the British Embassy arrives and consoles Susan. She confesses that she and Radley were not truly married and asks Raymond to inform Radley's real wife that he died alone. Susan and Raymond develop a relationship, and she takes a job as a clerk while living with her friend Alice (Tracey Ullman).

In 1953, Susan works for Queen Elizabeth's coronation committee. She asks Alice's former boyfriend, Mick (Sting), to father her child, but he is hesitant as she wants to raise the child alone. After her job is finished, Susan works in advertising briefly but finds it unsatisfying. Her attempts to conceive with Mick fail, leading to a confrontation where she fires a gun above his head.

Raymond visits Susan in the hospital after her nervous breakdown, and they eventually get married. However, Susan remains unsatisfied with her life despite their comfortable lifestyle. In 1956, she displays erratic behavior during a dinner party, embarrassing Raymond and their guests. Raymond's employer, Sir Leonard Darwin, announces his resignation due to the Suez Crisis.

Several years later, Susan and Raymond are living in Jordan, where he has a diplomatic post. Alice visits and notices Susan's subdued demeanor. Susan seizes the opportunity to return to England for Sir Leonard Darwin's (John Gielgud) funeral, which angers Raymond. Susan refuses to return to Jordan, and in 1962, she confronts Sir Andrew Charleson (Ian McKellen) about Raymond's stagnant career. She threatens suicide if Raymond is not promoted, leading to his dismissal and early retirement.

Back home, Susan argues with Raymond and leaves after he is knocked unconscious. She rekindles her love affair with Lazar, meeting him at a seaside hotel. After they make love, Susan reveals her mental instability, but when she falls asleep, Lazar leaves.

In the final scene, Susan recalls her idealistic youth in the French countryside after the war. She talks with a local farmer and agrees to attend a party with his family to celebrate the end of the conflict. In an ironic ending, Susan proclaims that there will be many more days like this in the years to come.

Cast

 * Meryl Streep as Susan Traherne
 * Charles Dance as Raymond Brock
 * Tracey Ullman as Alice Park
 * John Gielgud as Sir Leonard Darwin
 * Sting as Mick
 * Ian McKellen as Sir Andrew Charleson
 * Sam Neill as Lazar
 * Burt Kwouk as Mr Aung
 * Pik-Sen Lim as Mme Aung

Critical response
Plenty was met with mixed reviews upon release. It holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 17 critics.

Movie critic Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four. He said that Streep gave "a performance of great subtlety; it is hard to play an unbalanced, neurotic, self-destructive woman, and do it with such gentleness and charm... Streep creates a whole character around a woman who could have simply been a catalogue of symptoms.". Cultural and literary critic Tiffany Gilbert suggests that the "Englishness" that scriptwriter David Hare regarded as an essential theme of the movie was inescapably diminished by the casting of Hollywood star Meryl Streep as Susan: "[…] it inevitably loses some of its political edge[…] in ceding to the Hollywood fame machine." (albeit it had been a Canadian actor, Kate Nelligan, who had originally taken the part on the London and New York stages). Nelligan had played the part as a strong and capable woman, whereas Streep's depiction of neurosis transformed the play into a typical "Hollywood product".

Awards
Ullman and Gielgud were nominated for BAFTA Awards and Gielgud was named Best Supporting Actor by both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics.

Novel
A tie-in-novel by Andrew Osmond built on the movie's popularity with a pulp account of the post-war life of Lazar, Susan's lover.