A GOOD WOMAN : MRS. ERLYNNE AS THE WISE MISTRESS

Mrs. Erlynne, is acted by Helen Hunt, as the 40ish Serial Mistress who sets her sights on Amalfi, Italy for a season in 1930.  Mrs. Erlynne hasn't actually been married for years and she understands what motivates her and why she has chosen the lifestyle she has, considering the bad reputation she must endure.  Marriages isn't for her; generally, it's boring.

Scarlett Johansson acts as newlywed Meg Windermere who is vacationing with her husband. New to marriage and assured of her status in her set, she's been raised by a relative believing that her mother died when she was young.  Beautiful, trusting and sweet, the town gossips fill her in on the wicked ways of the world, but before her innocence can be robbed from her, Mrs. Erlynne shows up, and the gossip about the woman intrigues her.

Mrs. Erlynne, a Serial Mistress, is also a wise woman. She is quite expert at having men pay her bills - until their wives shut down her lines of credit.  Said to have fled New York and unpaid hotel bills, why is she really in Amalfi?

Is she, as the gossips say, a common prostitute, or a woman trying to make her way up in high society by eventually marrying the right man, someone who can live with her sins?  

In the end, Mrs. Erlynne decides she will not reveal her important secret to Meg, and allow her to believe her dead mother is her guardian angel.

Helen Hunt's mistress rather aches with repressed emotions.

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