Keeping Mum

Keeping Mum is a British comedy about Walter Goodfellow, a vicar in a small English village who is so absorbed in writing the perfect sermon that he overlooks what is happening under his own roof. His wife Gloria has grown distant and is drawn to Lance, an American golf professional giving her lessons, while their teenage daughter Holly works through a string of unsuitable boyfriends and young Petey dreads going to school because of bullies. Into this unsettled household comes Grace Hawkins, a new housekeeper whose brisk way of solving the family's problems suggests a considerably darker past than her manner implies.

The film was directed by Niall Johnson, who wrote the screenplay with Richard Russo. It was Johnson's second feature as director, following White Noise. Rowan Atkinson plays Walter opposite Kristin Scott Thomas as Gloria, with Maggie Smith as Grace and Patrick Swayze as Lance; Tamsin Egerton and Toby Parkes play the children. The credited cast runs to 29 performers.

Released in December 2005, the film took about 19 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from roughly 38,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.7 from around 639 votes. A critics' rating of 5.8 from 87 reviews places it close to, though slightly below, the audience scores.