How About You... (2007)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Ellie Harris (Hayley Atwell) reluctantly returns to her sister Kate who is struggling financially with her retirement home Woodlane. Ellie is saving up to go on a trip with her friends. The home is losing staff and residents due to four particularly opinionated residents singer-dancer Georgia (Vanessa Redgrave), pianist Donald (Joss Ackland), sisters Hazel (Imelda Staunton) and Heather (Brenda Fricker). Ellie befriends lonely dying Alice and her death hits her hard. Ellie's mother has a stroke and Kate has to go to take care of her. While everyone is away, Ellie is left alone in charge with four grumpy residents.The early death of Alice is a mistake. She represents the heart of the movie. The story feels like it has to restart after her death. It takes awhile to recover the heart. The comedic turns from the four veteran actors feel clunky. Their emotional drama feels perfunctory. Alice has a great line and should die later on to jump-start the climax. These are great actors and they have some drama to play out. However it's all rather structured and unsurprising.

Interesting title, I don't know if the short story it is derived from started this way, but for the movie we hear the old Sinatra recording "How About You".The story is set in Ireland, a single lady has used her inheritance to buy her home with a larger "retirement home" building next to it. She has perhaps a dozen or so residents, older men and women who can get along fine but prefer living there to living on their own. They each have a private room, and there is a large common room for dining and relaxation.The "problem", as it were, are a nucleus of 4 residents who virtually never leave the premises and who also have become jaded to the point where they make other residents unhappy. Some residents have actually left because of these and it seems that the retirement home is barely making enough money to stay in business. If it closes down, the 4 may not be accepted anywhere else.Hayley Atwell is Ellie Harris, the younger sister of the retirement home owner. She has come to ask her sister for a place to stay, and a job, so that she can save enough money to take a long trip with her boyfriend and others. Ellie has some rough edges, is young and impetuous, but when their mother becomes ill and her sister has to leave right before Christmas, Ellie is pressed into service and put in charge. All the other residents left to visit friends and relatives for the holidays, but the 4 grumpy residents remained for Ellie to deal with, which was quite a handful.A nice, smaller movie, a good diversion on a Friday night and reasonably good entertainment.SPOILERS: After a couple of days of dealing with the crotchety 4, and trying to accommodate their whims, Ellie gets fed up and reads them the riot act. She points out how difficult they are, how they might cause the home to be closed down, and all that results in a renewed "family" atmosphere.

Discovered this gem in the library's DVD collection and thoroughly enjoyed the story line and the amazing performances of the cast. It was heartwarming to have a disparate group of older people be rallied into a makeshift family by a young woman who is struggling on her own as well. Of course with the stellar cast, headed by Vanessa Redgrave, provided a realistic glimpse into ending up in an old folks home. This is an English gem that should have gotten more traction in the US! It made me laugh and sigh with the thoughts of how even a person with the most amazing life of fame and fortune will one day end up aged, looking back wistfully.

Very boring though I enjoyed the cinematography ... happen to know the cinematographer, Des Whelen. Wasn't expecting huge depth from a Maeve Binchy-based story but I suppose I had some fond memories of Circle of Friends. That's not to say the performances weren't good - Vanessa Redgrave performed at her usual high standard and Orla Brady has talent, but the characters/plot were not believable. I must say that I loved the Christmas music in the background. Can't trace the music... I have looked on Amazon and a few other sites but no luck. would anyone know if there is a soundtrack or would the Christmas songs be available on a DVD.