Quartet

As a 16 year old, it's safe to say that this obviously is not a film which is aimed at me at all, being based in a retirement home for old musicians where cracking jokes about opera is, you know, hilarious. In fact, the screening I was in was filled with those with white hair. It's not often that I feel out of place at a cinema, but I on this occasion I did.

Quartet, as you probably know, features a stellar cast of older actors; Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay playing the reunited divorcées with a history; Billy Connolly as a pottering and senile old tenor, cracking double-entendres at every opportunity; and Pauline Collins, who in my opinion steals the show, as the ditzy ex-opera singer. What follows is an unashamedly predictable, but nevertheless solidly crafted and amusing drama that wouldn't look out of place on a Sunday afternoon TV slot. Minus the f-words, of course. Yes ,you can see its development from a mile off, and it rarely addresses the more serious and harrowing aspects of old-age as Haneke's 'Amour' did, but it's good natured, well scripted and amusing fun.

It's all through the typical rose-tinted, Downton-esque portrayal of Britain that we're all accustomed to, but with a cast like that and a gentle, sweet story, it's hard not to be eventually won over by its charm. I had a good time.

I saw this in Savannah (Film Festival), with a crowd that was averaging 50 and above. Everybody was laughing through out the whole picture, when I came out of the theater everybody only said nice things about it, I have never seen so many old people come out of a theater so happy!!!

Please see this film, NO MATTER WHAT AGE YOU ARE. People don't make movies for such a demographic, or at least rarely, this movie quite frankly made me weep, laugh, and have a range of feeling that I have not experience from any picture released this year!

Some moments hit you hard man, real hard, you might be laughing one scene and then the next scene you just realized that the 'thumb up' from one old man to the next gives chills on how life can end at any moment and at any time.

Dustin Hoffman, my man, you have made many people, many seniors of this country really happy, you have done what most always want but never will.

Thank You, to the cast and to the crew!!!!!

What remarkable good fortune that Dustin Hoffman chose this Ronald Harwood play (and screenplay) for his directorial debut at age 75. This is a movie for actors, and there are many terrific performances in this wonderful ensemble piece about the residents of a home for aging musicians, which we saw at our movie preview club.

But the warmth of the story - the vibrancy of the seniors playing string quartets and practicing their cellos and clarinets, their friendships, annoyances, disappointments, and even loves - marks this film as something very special.

Hoffman has taken a beautiful English estate and turned it into a world of music filled with well-drawn and compelling characters: the woman with advancing dementia who relishes the CD of her performing Rigoletto 40 years ago; the flirtatious Wilf, whose "advances" towards the women on staff are never offensive and always charming; the aging diva - the always wonderful Maggie Smith - who is horrified by the thought that by moving in her life is over.

The best drawn (and in my mind, played) character is Wilf's best friend Reggie, who doesn't get Wilf's preferential treatment but has a quiet dignity and love of his life and his art that quietly shines through. His scene teaching students by comparing opera and rap may be this film's best.

Reggie is played by one of the most underrated and powerful British actors of his time, the estimable Tom Courtenay. It's hard to believe it's been 50 years since he starred as a 25-year-old in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. In a performance of grace, nuance, and elegance, Courtenay outshines even Maggie Smith. Perhaps he's inspired by working again from a Harwood screenplay; it was Harwood who wrote The Dresser, an excellent 1983 vehicle for Courtenay and Albert Finney.

One more note: Finney was apparently supposed to play the Wilf role, but unfortunately was not up to it health-wise. But comedian Billy Connolly's performance is just splendid.

See this movie!

Well, speak of the devil - just the other year I asked my lady-friend "whatever became of Dustin Hoffman?" - and here he is with his first work as director. And it's a really nice film, too! A nursing home for retired musicians, situated in the lush landscape of rural England, forms the refined stage for this adapted play. The financial future of said home depends on the success of the yearly gala concert to honor Verdi's birthday, and if you think you can guess the script from this description you're probably right since the story unfolds in a pretty formulaic way, no, thank you, no risk with my tea today. A love-gone-wrong, a little jealousy, health problems are thrown at our wrinkled protagonists but nothing can avert the happy outcome! Though formulaic, I'll recommend this film: The acting is very fine, the comedy is well-timed, and the music is very good. Plus, it manages to stay on the healthy side of sentimental, it's absolutely no tear-jerker. And stay for the end credits!

A note on the actors: Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly carry the comedic parts and do so with obvious joy.

Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay are Jean and Reggie, a couple with a past, on whom the plot centers. Maggie Smith's performance is flawless; Tom Courtenay looks a bit wooden opposite her (or is it the role?).

Since the couple's love story is a bit dry and shallow, the key role in "Quartet", though, falls to Pauline Collins as Cissy - the emotional heart of the film. It's not a fine line, but rather a very wide area between "sane" and "demented", and Pauline Collins boldly explores the expanse of this terrifying region and hits every single note, be it unwitting comedy or devastating fear and disorientation or childlike trust. Often actors impersonating disabled persons limit themselves to a few ticks (Mr. Hoffman himself has some experience here I believe); with Collins' versatile performance you're never sure how "here" or "there" she is at the moment as is true with real-life demented persons.

I cried tears of joy at the end of this wonderful movie. The acting, the sets, the country side and most of all, the story. This comedy-drama revolves around a home for retired musicians, patterned after the real-life Casa di Riposo per Musicisti founded by Giuseppe Verdi. The annual concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents. Maggie Smith is a remarkable actor, and she is at her finest here. Michael Gambon has the most intense air about him, Pauline Collins is a delight to watch and, of course, Bill Connolly is a wee bit over the top here, though a delight to watch as well. This is a beautiful story, told by many talented actors and it deserves to be seen. Brava!