Female Film Critics 24/375
Witty writer Julian Fellowes has cleverly created and cast such fully realized, socially stratified characters that it’s completely credible that Noel Coward should come to visit Downton, accompanied by actor Guy Dexter and his ‘companion’ – former footman/valet – Thomas Barrow, and – having heard Mary’s divorce story – be inspired to write the comedy Private Lives.
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Fans of the television series and two previous films will still experience the beautiful scenery and feel the warm familiar embrace of the posh lot. As the Dowager Countess looks down on the antics from her portrait in the foyer and Lord Grantham places a kiss on the home’s stone facade, the audience may just shed a tear or three as our old friend’s destinies are wrapped up nicely in a two hour love letter. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing dull. Just a fond faire thee well.
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The spiritual and life lessons at this film’s heart are not especially nuanced, but The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – director Hettie Macdonald’s (Normal People) second feature, based on Rachel Joyce’s script from her own novel – is still a rewarding watch. Keep the Kleenex handy. Veteran actors Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton play aging British couple Harold and Maureen Fry, who have very little left to say to each other and even less to do each day. When Harold receives a note in the mail from an old colleague, Queenie, saying goodbye since she has been moved to hospice, something inside him shifts.
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They have all been through a lot, and the new era offers just as many challenges. The prospect of another war and a depression. A leaky roof. Hetero- v. homosexuality. A French villa no one knew about from a paramour no one knew about. Lord Grantham’s lineage. Who inherits what? Plus a moving picture filmed on the premises — just as Downton is, which presents the running theme of silent films vs. “talkies.”
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If you’re an avid fan of the PBS series and followed the franchise onto the big screen, you should relish this reunion with the inhabitants of the Crawley’s stately country house who have become so familiar. But if you’re not acquainted with their backstories, this sequel may be a bit bewildering. Written once again by series creator Julian Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis, the period drama, set circa 1929, veers between Yorkshire and the South of France and is fraught with emotional complications.
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In Downton Abbey: The New Era. the Crawleys of Grantham have invited us back into their stately manor to catch us up on what the Earl, his family, and all of the spunky servants have been up to of late. This is the sequel to the 2019 movie spinoff of the globally popular six-season TV series that lasted from 2010 to 2015. Fans of the Downton Abbey franchise will find The New Era scathingly delicious and sentimentally sweet. But, if you’ve never visited the Granthams before, you’ll probably have more fun watching your favorite DVD.
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Ian Fleming — yes, that Ian Fleming — narrates Operation Mincemeat: “In any story,” he writes, “there is that which is seen and that which is hidden.” Such is the case with Operation Mincemeat and the fascinating — and flawed — film based on the true event. The time is July 1943 during World War II. The place is England; the target is Sicily.
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This series has Ricky Gervais’ handprints all over it. That’s a good thing. After Life is that rare look at grief that does not shy away from searing pain or shocking humor. But, the third and final season is not so knife-sharp as the first two. It cannot be. The six episodes fly by with each episode as evanescent as water through reeds.
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Sally Hawkins is a treasure. Her presence alone elevates any movie she’s in, giving audiences a reason to stay riveted even when the story doesn’t quite live up to her performance. Eternal Beauty, written and directed by Craig Roberts, is a perfect example. Hawkins stars as Jane, suffering from depression and schizophrenia after being jilted at the altar years ago and due to abuse by her mother. Hawkins brings such compassion to her flawed character. And because Roberts brings her to his flawed movie, it is powerful to watch. Hawkins is truly, as Jane’s therapist would say, “in her oils.”
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After Life is exactly what we need right now. Yes, it’s about death and mourning, and the world is suffused in same, but we need an intimate embrace of grief through Art as a way to address a global grieving in Life. Any worries about Season 2’s being as good as Season 1 should be tabled.
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