Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont (2005)

Wonderful character development!

Perfect cast and a good story

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Every plot development in this movie, a meditation on life, death, love, poetic inspiration, and family ties, is hackneyed and accordingly totally predictable, but it satisfies just the same. The secret, I think, is the beauty which the cinematographer has wrung out of London, a preposterously gorgeous "retirement hotel," and the faces of the lead and character actors; the civility, respect for diversity, and stoicism inherent in the dialog; and the complete absence of anything like a laugh track to the comedy. Mrs. Palfrey, a London retiree recently widowed (played by Joan Plowright), befriends a good looking, slightly offbeat young man (played by Rupert Friend) who writes. A sensitive chap, he honors her friendship with the respect an older lady deserves. She guides him like the grandson she unfortunately has always had. He meets a girl. She lets him go. Enjoy it.

This film has everything - unique locations - lovable, quirky characters - a heartfelt story - honest, understated directing - superior acting.Mrs. Palfrey is an elderly lady who decides to spend some time in a residence hotel in London. There she leads a pleasant but lonely life looking back upon her life and memories of her deceased husband - her one true love. She has a grandson in London, but he doesn't even pay the courtesy of returning his grandmother's phone calls.One day, Mrs. Palfrey falls on the sidewalk outside the apartment of a young man, Ludovic Meyer, who immediately comes to her rescue. He is a handsome, charming failed writer who has recently been abandoned by his girlfriend because he won't follow a more practical lifestyle.There is almost an immediate bond between Mrs. Palfrey and Ludovic. To her, Ludovic is a substitute for her absent grandson and, more importantly, a reminder of her late husband. To him, Mrs. Palfrey is an intelligent woman who understands his art and his struggle for his art and, more importantly, a substitute for an unusual, distant mother. They share each other's memories and dreams.Surrounding the two main characters is a plethora of personalities in the supporting characters - most of whom are other residents at the Claremont. All of the actors in the film create intriguing, unforgettable people, but Joan Plowright and Rupert Friend as the leads are extraordinary.This little film is a joy to watch and a very important reminder of the need and necessity for true and supporting connections between human beings of all ages.

Thank you Mr. Ireland for not only making a movie that is intelligent, but one that the American ear can understand. I cannot even begin to describe how frustrating it is to try to watch a movie, even American-made, where it's mostly mumbling, or English accents that are difficult to understand. What we have here is a movie for adults, and one that does not make the viewer go HUH? at the end. No special effects are needed, or mad car crashes, or violence to tell the story. Just a good story and script and actors who can actually act and not have to rely on a computer to make the movie a success. Not to say that a younger person would find this movie boring. The story is simple and plausible, and in its simplicity is beauty. An elderly widow moves to London in order to be closer to her family, which like most families, tend to want to forget about their aging relatives and do their best to avoid them as much as possible. The movie makes a wonderful point about how sad and lonely aging can be, and what is particularly sad is the place where Mrs. Palfrey ends up. The scenes in the dining room are some of the best. Why is it that there are assigned tables and that no one takes it upon themselves to sit with someone else, even if they do not speak to one another, so that no one is eating alone? It is a reminder of how lonely life can be. Surrounded by people but lonely, unwanted and unappreciated. Then an accident occurs that brings a young man into Mrs. Palfrey's life, and somehow life seems worth living again and is not so lonely. There is something to look forward to, even if it's just reliving one's memories. What is especially good about this movie is that every actor does a superb job, even if the part is minor. Joan Plowright, as Mrs. Palfrey, is wonderful, as usual. What happens in a lot of movies with an outstanding actor is that the other actors seem to pale in comparison. Not so in this movie. Rupert Friend is perfect as the "adopted" grandson and I hope to see the 2 of them together in other projects.

Joan Plowright is good in this, and I imagine the producers only secured funding on the strength of her signing up to it. I had been looking forward to seeing this for ages - it sounded just my kind of film - and was very pleased to get the DVD this week.But the film is so disappointing. A key part of the problem is presumably that the novel this is based on is both third-rate (the screenplay trots out one cliché after another: the London you see is the London Americans think of, red buses everywhere etc); and set in the fifties. The film needlessly updates the setting to the present day but in so doing makes an absolute nonsense of what is already a thin story. The 'residents' of the hotel are poorly drawn stereotypes, and even the usually wonderful Anna Massey seems to be embarrassed to be in this mess. (The scene where she collapses is pitifully bad). Rupert Friend is a good male lead, and he clearly will go far, but the role he is asked to play is quite unbelievable and especially the bizarre scene where he & Mrs Palfrey visit his mother. Other cast members are either poorly used (Timothy Bateson - who was in the original cast of Waiting for Godot for goodness' sake - plays a muttering half-wit of a porter), or just rubbish. I laughed at the fact that the casting director of the film cast himself as the hotel manager, I don't think anyone else would somehow! The best part of the film other than Plowright is the cinematography which keeps trying to rise above the handicaps of the script & direction.In essence this is a classic example of a film where you can see what kind of film the director imagined he was making but patently hasn't succeeded, and I'm hardly surprised that it hasn't gained distribution in the UK (or even a UK DVD release for that matter) as it is a very lacklustre and disappointing product.