Comments on: Already Seen Pollyanna

Question: Already Seen Pollyanna

Fairchild — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:38:34 -0800

What novels or movies have a vivacious, charming person drop in and change everybody's perspective or shake the place up?

By: apparently

apparently — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:40:44 -0800

My Best Friend's Wedding, when Rupert Everett appears as Julia Roberts' boyfriend.

By: ignignokt

ignignokt — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:40:57 -0800

Mary Poppins.
Office Space, although the person who drops in is already there and gets "unlocked" by hypnosis.
School of Rock.
Ninja III: The Domination - a ninja spirit possesses a an '80s aerobic instructor and things get shaken up.

By: The Prawn Reproach

The Prawn Reproach — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:41:05 -0800

Mary Poppins! which I'm sure you've already seen also but I was excited because I just saw it again and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious...

By: Melismata

Melismata — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:41:41 -0800

The Return of Martin Guerre.

By: Trivia Newton John

Trivia Newton John — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:42:08 -0800

Six Degrees of Separation

By: The Prawn Reproach

The Prawn Reproach — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:42:28 -0800

beaten to the punch by ignignokt because I googled to check the spelling of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:42:31 -0800

Crome Yellow is a (short) book that has several of these characters hanging out together. It's fun.

By: pie ninja

pie ninja — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:42:44 -0800

Cold Comfort Farm, which is terrific and everyone should read it.

By: Serene Empress Dork

Serene Empress Dork — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:43:02 -0800

Cold Comfort Farm

By: Melismata

Melismata — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:43:20 -0800

The Music Man.

By: mzurer

mzurer — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:45:42 -0800

Being There, sort of.

By: Michele in California

Michele in California — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:45:48 -0800

Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2.

By: Doofus Magoo

Doofus Magoo — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:45:59 -0800

Sister Act, Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver.

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:46:25 -0800

Footloose?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:47:45 -0800

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:48:37 -0800

Something Wild (wow, 80s film trailers were -- different)

Lilo and Stitch

By: thack3r

thack3r — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:55:00 -0800

The Sound of Music

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:56:24 -0800

Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell.

Bringing Up Baby is really the canonical example.

By: anya32

anya32 — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:57:25 -0800

Pleasantville.

By: radiosilents

radiosilents — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:58:17 -0800

The Cat in the Hat

By: The Wrong Kind of Cheese

The Wrong Kind of Cheese — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:59:55 -0800

My Man Godfrey
Educating Rita

By: kimota

kimota — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:00:02 -0800

About every episode of Doctor Who.

By: ACEness

ACEness — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:02:22 -0800

If you'll allow a TV example....I'd like to throw in...Doctor Who.

becauze fezzes are cool.

Also a bit of a different spin on it - the Joker in the Dark Knight.

By: sestaaak

sestaaak — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:07:03 -0800

More charmingly soulful and sympathetic than vivacious, but Dr Mumford

And more of a true crime story with fiction intercut with documentary interviews - Bernie the sweet mortician who moves in, sweeps all the bluehairs off their feet, takes over the town theater program, and becomes the most beloved citizen in town

By: fuse theorem

fuse theorem — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:08:31 -0800

The Wizard of Oz

By: wintersweet

wintersweet — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:12:07 -0800

Check the film and novel lists at Manic Pixie Dream Girl and Loony Friends Improve Your Personality on TV Tropes, if not some other better-suited tropes.

By: Ragged Richard

Ragged Richard — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:14:03 -0800

The Ice Man Cometh, sort of.

By: Melismata

Melismata — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:14:25 -0800

Anne of Green Gables.

By: Ruthless Bunny

Ruthless Bunny — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:19:05 -0800

I'm in a thirties kind of mood today.

You Can't Take It With You.

By: misozaki

misozaki — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:19:28 -0800

M*A*S*H, the movie.

By: wrok

wrok — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:19:44 -0800

Hesher. Sort of... except the exact opposite, but also, exactly.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:23:36 -0800

Back to the Future---Michael J Fox as MPDG.

By: mykescipark

mykescipark — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:37:36 -0800

Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw.

Fallen Angels by Noel Coward.

The Foreigner by Larry Shue.

By: JennyJupiter

JennyJupiter — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:38:04 -0800

Ferris Bueller?

By: Boxenmacher

Boxenmacher — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:39:09 -0800

Hagbard Celine in the Illuminatus! trilogy.

By: DMelanogaster

DMelanogaster — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:40:52 -0800

Boudu Saved From Drowning and its horrible remake, Down and Out In Beverly Hills.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:40:54 -0800

Glengarry Glenross

By: ubiquity

ubiquity — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:41:29 -0800

Cluny Brown. Totally classic film about a girl with a thing for plumbing. There is also a delightful novel.

The Nanny McPhee films, or the Nurse Matilda books on which they are based. Much like Mary Poppins. Nanny is not actually vivacious, but she does charm.

By: ubiquity

ubiquity — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:44:27 -0800

Oh, and Ball of Fire, with Barbara Stanwyck as the vivacious charmer.

By: marimeko

marimeko — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:47:37 -0800

Once Around with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss?

By: theBigRedKittyPurrs

theBigRedKittyPurrs — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:55:07 -0800

Ensemble c'est tout. Movie and novel.

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:56:55 -0800

The Iceman Cometh, sort of

The Iceman Cometh is a loose parody of Jerome K. Jerome's short story, "The Passing of the 'Third Floor Back'", in which a stranger moves into a dingy boardinghouse and inspires its inhabitants to act like their best selves.

Plot twist: he might be an angel. It's on Gutenberg. Context that might be helpful: the lisping dude named Isidore is pretending not to be Jewish (lisping was seen as a marker of being Jewish in 19th century England because it was assumed English Jews' first language was Ladino); everything else is probably pretty straightforward.

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:02:08 -0800

Speaking of "'Third Floor Back'", Miracle on 34th Street is in the same vein, and let's not forget the execrable "Touched By an Angel".

While on the topic of bad TV shows, "The Nanny". And so-so TV shows, "Mork and Mindy". And "I Dream of Jeannie", for that matter.

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:07:28 -0800

An interesting example of people resisting that is Interiors, which I was reminded of by the line from "The Nanny" theme, "She's the lady in red when everybody else is wearing tan".

Some other movies: Don Juan DeMarco, Chocolat, and Babette's Feast.

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:09:44 -0800

Damn Yankees. The "vivacious, charming" person is the Devil, played by Ray Walston.

By: cali59

cali59 — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:09:52 -0800

Brimstone & Treacle

By: themadjuggler

themadjuggler — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:10:13 -0800

Pudd'nhead Wilson?

By: so much modern time

so much modern time — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:11:02 -0800

This is a classic trope of old Hollywood movies.

The Katharine Hepburn / Cary Grant films Holiday and Bringing Up Baby

Breakfast at Tiffany's

How to Steal a Million

Top Hat

See also: Pretty much every screwball comedy, ever.

By: smirkette

smirkette — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:13:25 -0800

Kind of opposite, but Auntie Mame. Anne of Green Gables. Punky Brewster (if you're doing TV)

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:16:11 -0800

Also The Philadelphia Story, for that matter. Hepburn and Grant were perfect in those roles.

I really like the Tracy and Hepburn takes on it, too. Pat and Mike is famous, but Without Love is an underappreciated (including by Tracy and Hepburn) gem. Also has great supporting performances by Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn.

And, oh, shit, how could I not have mentioned Ball of Fire and The Lady Eve? Barbara Stanwyck was so great in those.

By: curious nu

curious nu — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:21:40 -0800

Weird Science?

By: hurdy gurdy girl

hurdy gurdy girl — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:26:25 -0800

Some of Elinor Lipman's books feature this sort of character--an outgoing, outspoken person who drops into the life of the quiet, reserved main character(s) and shakes everything up. The dropper-inner isn't always super sympathetic but is generally well-meaning and good-hearted if also oblivious and maybe kind of self-centred. Lipman's books are light and humorous, but also very well-written and reminiscent of a modern Jane Austen comedy of manners.

Then She Found Me--April is a quiet schoolteacher with two recently-deceased parents and an unreliable, crappy boyfriend. She is unexpectedly reunited with her birth mother, Bernice, a gregarious talk show host who takes an immediate and nosy interest in April's love life. There is an OK movie adaptation, too, with Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, and Colin Firth but even so, my first recommendation is for the novel (despite the presence of the excellent Mr. Firth).

My Latest Grievance--Frederica is a disgruntled teenager whose parents are professors at a middling college. When a vivacious, dramatic woman named Laura Lee French drops in on her family and becomes the dorm mother on campus, Frederica discovers that Laura Lee has a secret connection to her family.

And Cathleen Schine's The Love Letter features not a person, but an anonymous letter that pops up suddenly and circulates around a small New England seaside town, leading everyone who reads it to think that the letter is meant for them. Hijinks ensue, of course. There was a movie adaptation, but again...I'd recommend the novel.

As for films: Amelie.

By: Muttoneer

Muttoneer — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:31:42 -0800

Cold Comfort Farm, both a book and a movie.

I think Delicatessen would also fit your criteria.

By: bquarters

bquarters — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:37:13 -0800

Can I be the final person to say Cold Comfort Farm which is in my bed with me right now and I just discovered it and it's awesome so I really feel this question was written expressly for me to answer even though others got here first?

By: Verdandi

Verdandi — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:54:35 -0800

Does The Nanny count?

By: The Bellman

The Bellman — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:55:30 -0800

The Man Who Came to Dinner. My terrier is named after him.

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:21:55 -0800

There are also a couple movies of The Passing of the 'Third Floor Back', under that title and at least one other which I now forget.

The Bishop's Wife is another movie about angels changing people's lives; I think that was remade under another title fairly recently with Will Smith? Am I hallucinating that entirely?

By: perhapses

perhapses — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:33:24 -0800

Fellini's La Dolce Vita.

By: overeducated_alligator

overeducated_alligator — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:38:28 -0800

Down and Out in Beverly Hills

By: urbanwhaleshark

urbanwhaleshark — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:39:28 -0800

Drop Dead Fred.

By: likeso

likeso — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:25:49 -0800

(Sidhedevil, nope, not hallucinating - but it was The Preacher's Wife and starred Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.)

By: Soliloquy

Soliloquy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:41:41 -0800

Rory O'Shea Was Here

By: the noob

the noob — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:41:59 -0800

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

By: jenfullmoon

jenfullmoon — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:46:22 -0800

What's Up, Doc?

Probably every Manic Pixie Dream Girl movie ever, really.

By: griphus

griphus — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:57:03 -0800

Pulp Fiction

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:57:51 -0800

Annie

By: Kyrieleis

Kyrieleis — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:04:41 -0800

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

By: reshet

reshet — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:55:21 -0800

Love in a Cold Climate! It meets your criteria perfectly - charming and vivacious character, drops into the story halfway through, changes everything. Also it's brilliantly funny, in much the same vein as Cold Comfort Farm.

By: palbo

palbo — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:19:42 -0800

Fight Club.

By: fiercekitten

fiercekitten — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:27:31 -0800

Pollyanna

By: fiercekitten

fiercekitten — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:28:56 -0800

The book, not the movie.

By: beccaj

beccaj — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:41:32 -0800

Chocolat.

By: Fairchild

Fairchild — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 06:36:53 -0800

Thanks all for all of the great answers. I have read/seen several mentioned. There are a lot I haven't seen or read. I have seen Bernie, Then She Found Me, Amelie and some more mentioned here. I haven't read Love in a Cold Climate or Cold Comfort Farm. Rory O'Shea Was Here is on Netflix streaming. As is Bernie (highly recommend). I can't believe I haven't watched Delicatessen yet. I will. Thanks again for all of the suggestions. Appreciate it very much.

By: jbickers

jbickers — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 06:53:41 -0800

The title of your question suggests that these are recommendations for a child ... but in case I'm wrong about that, I'll suggest "Louie" from MTV's The State.

By: ODiV

ODiV — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 12:34:56 -0800

About Adam

By: capricorn

capricorn — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:30:10 -0800

To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar is my personal quintessential example of this trope. It's three vivacious, charming people, though, if that matters.