'MRS. HENDERSON' PRESENTS AN OVEREXPOSED JUDI DENCH.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

AS OBVIOUS as the bare breasts of the tastefully topless dancers it frequently employs, ``Mrs. Henderson Presents'' is a show-must-go-on period piece that will appeal mainly to theater lovers, people who like to watch Judi Dench chew scenery and men who ordinarily wouldn't be caught dead at this sort of thing but will go - without protest - out of a sense of duty to significant others and to secretly satisfy their own cleavage curiosity. (Short answer: They're real, and they're spectacular.)

Essentially, ``Mrs. Henderson'' is this year's ``Being Julia,'' a bland, meager story about a demanding diva and the orbs that spin around her. Admittedly, there are worse things than watching Dench play a sharp-tongued woman who dispenses pithy put-downs and sarcasm with the ruthless efficiency of a Harvey Weinstein Oscar campaign. (Which, not coincidentally, Harvey will be running this year on Ms. Dench's behalf.) But as this movie ambles toward Dame Judi's inevitable Big Speech Moment, you might be hard-pressed to think of one.

``Inspired by true events'' (quote marks courtesy of the filmmakers), ``Mrs. Henderson Presents'' tells the story of Laura Henderson (Dench), a recently widowed London woman who would ``rather drink ink'' than spend her days sipping tea and taking in tapestries. On a whim, she sinks her fortune into a Soho theater and hires a show-biz pro, Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins), to run it for her.

Van Damm's initial idea - nonstop vaudeville - is a hit. It's too successful, in fact; everyone else copies it. Mrs. Henderson then suggests: ``Let's get rid of the clothes.'' Says Van Damm: ``That sort of thing isn't done in England.'' Nor it is typically done in a Judi Dench movie, but that doesn't stop director Stephen Frears from making a pass at it.

Frears and writer Martin Freeman set up and dutifully (and dully) deliver Dench and Hoskins as a sparring odd couple and, of course, milk how shocked the oh-so-proper Brits are at having bare breasts in their midst. (Christopher Guest turns up as a disapproving lord.) Fatally, they also prematurely reveal a ghost in Mrs. Henderson's past, which robs the character - and the movie - of the impact of Dench's key third-act Big Speech revelation.

Elsewhere, the film flits about, creating phony conflicts (Mrs. Henderson displays romantic feelings! Mrs. Henderson plays Cupid!) that become dramatic dead-ends because of their sketchiness. Even the arrival of World War II fails to put much of a dent in the filmmakers' unwavering commitment to Dench's snarkiness, exposing ``Mrs. Henderson'' as a not-so-grand star vehicle for the Grand Dame.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS - Two and one half stars

(R: nudity, brief language)

Starring: Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins.

Director: Stephen Frears.

Running time: 1 hr. 43 min.

Playing: Laemmle's Royal in West Los Angeles.

In a nutshell: Will satisfy theater lovers and Judi Dench addicts; otherwise a trifle as bare as the movie's bosoms.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Bob Hoskins and Judi Dench are the manager and proprietor of a Soho theater that features a nude revue in ``Mrs. Henderson Presents.''