This is the first film that Dustin Hoffman has directed. Having won two Academy Awards for best actor, and been nominated for countless others, can he direct a film that is of the same quality as we would expect from one of his acting performances?
All I can say is, "Dustin, what took you so long?"
The film is about Britain's musical royalty living together in a retirement home, where everyone who has been a star must accept the onward march of age, and that they are no longer in charge of everything........... their bodies, their minds or their own destinies.
And to tell us the story, we have Britain's acting royalty. Maggie Smith (2 Oscars), Tom Courtney (twice nominated), Pauline Collins (nominated), Billy Connolly (should have been nominated), Michael Gambon (The Singing Detective, oh, and Dumbledore), Andrew Sachs (Manuel!) and it goes on and on. Faces we know, faces we remember.
It is a very different film from something like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this leaning more to the occasional 'drawing room comedy' moment, but the English are brilliant at giving us films that tell us true stories of the perils of aging.
The residents of Beecham House are trying to save it by holding a gala concert. They need to raise enough money to keep it running, and they have just lost their star attraction to a 'turn'. But a new resident turns everything upside down, being the ultimate diva, also the ex-wife of another resident, and unwilling to help with the gala.
The film is immensely enjoyable and leaves the audience uplifted and wishing for more. It reminds us that the English value and celebrate their older actors, in all manner of shapes and sizes. They do not require them to have ridiculous amounts of plastic surgery and body doubles. A lesson that Hollywood could learn, and soon!
Thank you Dustin for making your first not only British, but damn enjoyable.
A solid 4 Orsons out of 5.
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