My Old Lady (2014)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Except for the classics, I rarely watch a movie twice. The story is well played out with an emotional heart string tug intertwined with the pull of exotic france and family secrets. the overall message which unfolds is simply sweet. I won't go into detail so as to not spoil it for anyone who runs across this quaint film. The actors are a nice blend. It is not (was not) academy award winning but it is certainly worth the time.

I found this movie on Netflix where it was awarded 2 1/2 stars out of five which is half a star less than the fireplace with crackling logs!!!! I tend to go for films that have low scores based on the premise that high scoring movies on netflix are usually utter drivel ( who grades them!) whereas low scoring foreign films are usually pretty good. This movie is a work of genius in every respect: I loved the story, the cinematography and the location; Paris is my favourite city. I especially loved the acting and the choice of actors. Maggie Smith is just a marvel but we all know that! Kevin Kline is without any doubt the best American actor on the circuit and he was perfect for the part. Kristen Scott- Thomas is such a powerful character actress who completely stole my heart in The English Patient and I would marry her tomorrow if she'd have me though my wife might have some grounds for objection. This is more of a play than a movie but I stand by my vote and it is the best movie I have watched in years.

I watched this film on a whim when nothing else in the available selection piqued my interest and I was pleasantly surprised! The film starts out a little slow but over time we learn more about the characters, their past and how they all ended up coming together in the present moment. During that time there were several surprises and curve balls thrown which rattles the characters but ultimately there is a good resolution.This movie is one of those mildly funny feel-good movies that you'd tune into if you just want to sit back and relax casually. I must say that I was surprised to have enjoyed this movie so much since I'm usually an action and thriller movie type of person but I ended up liking this one so much that I bought the DVD! I hope that more people will open their minds to this movie and fully enjoy what it has to offer.

A beautiful house in Paris is the setting for this troublesome drama where the presence of a little old lady (Maggie Smith at her most passive/aggressive gentleness) turns the new owner's (Kevin Kline) world upside down. He inherited the house from his late father and discovers much to his confusion that as the owner, he must pay rent to Smith and her rather serious daughter, Kristin Scott Thomas, who has enough troubles of her own to add him to her list of problems. Smith, it is quickly revealed, was an acquaintance of her father's, and as the lines of communication open between the three, more facts are revealed that turn Kline back to the bottle, break up Scott's own relationship with a married man, and reveal secrets that are heartbreaking and often shocking.You can never go wrong with any movie that stars the now legendary Smith, the British Katharine Hepburn, whose tenacity to continue working has made her beloved. This isn't a Jean Brodie Maggie Smith, nor a Dora Charles Maggie Smith of "Murder By Death", and she is as far from her Lady Violet Crawley as she is from Little Lord Fauntleroy. A character of gentle breeding and much class, she teaches English to Europeans of other cultures living in Paris, and in one scene, must explain to one of her pupils of the very sexually explicit meaning of the book they are reading. There is no shock on her face, just minor amusement, and even when she confronts Kline with his return to the bottle, it is with much tenderness and concern. It turns out she knows more information as to why he drinks, and when Kline shares his most shocking secret with her, it is written on her face ever so briefly that her whole world is shattered because of it. The bond with Scott grows too, and they all learn that underneath their initial distrust of each other, they are now bonded forever.This takes much patience to get into, but the three stars do their best to help the viewer maintain intentions. It is a gentle movie, almost nurturing in a way, and leaves the viewer with a very important lesson of how the generations create gaps simply because they unwillingly refuse to understand the older or younger ones. As old Rose said in "Titanic", "A woman's heart carries many secrets", and in the case of Smith's Mathilde Girard, she has more than her alleged 90 years can hold. The three give brilliant performances, almost quiet to the point where it seems like they are not at all acting. It's one of those sleeper movies that you'll have to sleep on to really be affected by it and one where your own relationships with older relatives, especially parents, will be forced out of whatever hiding spot they hold in your soul.