Age-Old Friends

British writer Bob Larbey was better known for sitcoms he co wrote such as The Good Life. A Month of Sundays was a stage play he wrote about two elderly men in an old people's home.

This made for cable movie transplants the play to the USA.

John Cooper (Hume Cronyn) and Michael Aylott (Vincent Gardenia) are spiky friends at the care home. Two men who still have a bit of spirit left in them. They dream of escaping the care home and going to Switzerland dressed as nuns.

Only now Michael is getting forgetful. He knows it, when the care home tells his sister, she stops visiting him. It's no use if Micheal cannot remember his own sister.

On a Sunday, once a month. John is visited by his daughter, her husband and his grandson. John looks forward to seeing his grandson but he does not want to come any longer. All granddad does is talk about ill people and those who have recently died in the home..

Despite the long drive they have to undertake each month. John has nothing to talk about with his daughter. He detests nostalgia and he does not want to talk about his wife who he misses.

Instead he prefers to flirt with young nurse Wilson but she might be going away soon as her boyfriend has proposed to her.

Soon John could be on his own unless he opts to move in with his daughter. He certainly does not want to do that despite not being as mobile as he used to be.

I don't think the play has transplanted that well to an American setting. The black humour is missing. The stage roots are there. It does avoid mawkish sentimentality for most parts.

My first encounter with Vincent Gardenia was in All In The Family, as he played the ditsy neighbor who cooked. Imagine my surprise when he put in a splendid effort in a serious way! The cast and story were superb. One of HBO's best! A Solid 9.

Cronyn and Gardenia give sparkling and Emmy-winning performances. This movie presents a personal perspective of the aging process. Faced with contrasting experiences of "getting old" - Cronyn with a keen mind and frail body vs. Gardenia with the onset of senility and a healthy body - the two friends are friendly adversaries of the aging process. They provide mutual support to each other and their families as they "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." The portrayal of the nursing home experience is fairly accurate. I highly recommend that families view it together before they are forced to make difficult decisions about the welfare of their aging relatives.

The line is "What would you say to another drop of whiskey?" "Hello, whiskey!" This movie was awesome. We watched it in our health class in 12th grade to discuss aging, and my friends and I still quote lines from the movie. Mr. Cronyn passed away today, and I will always remember him as this great character.

Hume Cronyn and Vincent Gardenia pull off brilliant acting performances in this little great movie. The dialogue is excellent and the chemistry between the main characters is rare. It was my first encounter with Cronyn, and I've been a fan ever since. "Hello another drop of Whiskey!"