ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Michael Ledo The film is based on a true story, shot on location where the event happened.Margaret T, Fairchild (Maggie Smith) aka Mary, is an elderly woman who lived in her van. In the opening scene, which is dark, there is an accident, one in which she runs from. She ends up in Camden Town and in the yard of playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings). Bennett separates himself into two people, the author, and the individual who deals with stubborn woman in the van.As the film progresses, the glimpses we get of her younger life fill in, as we discover this is an educated woman, who is accomplished, and whose life is now being wasted. Alan constantly contrasts her to his own mother, in a home who doesn't remember him.But it is not a sad story. Maggie Smith gives us a delightful performance of a quirky woman with hygiene issues.Guide: Occasional F-word. No sex or nudity.

goldenarrow-99823 This was listed under 'comedy' on Netflix and my son chose it for us to watch together, after I insisted we watch something other than Pokemon... He thought it was going to be in the same David Walliams vein of The Boy In The Dress etc. It's not that kind of 'comedy' - and while almost all of it is family-friendly (just a couple of big swears), the central theme and wry observations from Alan Bennett will either go over the heads of little ones or will just come across as dull. The aforementioned Mr B is kind of a marmite writer in that he divides the audience. I find him smug and clever, without ever provoking more than a minor smile. It's the Carla Lane-esque summary of "Life" that I object to in his style. Things make him think (which is good) but inevitably he seems to conclude that his life is just boring and he's not living it enough etc. Quit moaning about not living and live it. Or, just quit moaning and accept that you'll never bungee jump in New Zealand or whatever "Life" Aside from my feelings towards Bennett himself, this was an enjoyable, if bemusing, film. Maggie Smith is impressive as the frankly unpleasant eponymous Lady.It's clear she has her problems, I just find it tragic, for her, that it take so long for them to be dealt with.Not exactly a typical odd-couple film.

Raj Doctor This is a true story that Alan Bennett wrote about a homeless lady Miss Shepherd who stayed in a van on the street near his house in seventies.The character of Alan Bennett is played excellently by Alex Jennings -who is always talking with his alter ego in the house, while he is scribbling his new play and notes in his book. The portrayal of Miss Shepherd is portrayed by Maggie Smith - and she lives the eccentric character - living under the skin. All awards - won or nominated were for Maggie Smith's brilliant performance. The story is about this girl Mary or Margaret (the younger version played by Clare Hammond) who is a gifted pianist, aspires to become a nun, but because of her argumentative nature is thrown away and admitted by her brother to an asylum from where she runs away and at one point in her life - has a car accident in which a young motor- cyclist dies. She does not report the incident and always blames herself - living under the fear that one day she might be arrested for the crime.There are several layers in the character of Miss Mary Shepherd that we come to know with each small episode she has with a big hearted Alan Bennett - who hesitantly gives her a temporary place to part the vehicle in front of his house, then in his empty front park - and that beautiful bond of LOVE relationship continues for 15 years till she dies. The real Miss Shepherd died in 1986, and she was granted a placard on the house of Alan Bennett by the community she lived in - which stands even today. The movie has wonderful chatty conversations and dialogues between Alan and Alan's alter ego interrupting Alan and Mary's conversations - that are sometimes hilarious Very well written and adapted screenplay from the memoir written by Alan Bannett by the same name.Made on a budget of USD 6 million, the movie has raked in more than USD 40 million worldwide. The Director Nicholas Hytner has done a commendable job in sticking to the authenticity of the narrative. What is beautiful about the character of Miss Shepherd is her unwillingness to leave her life on any one else's terms. Her stubbornness and whimsical eccentric nature holds on true to the humor and empathy she evokes.All is done well with the humanity and out-reach of Alan Bennett who though shies to recognize to his credit the give immortality to this affable character of Miss Shepherd by his memoir and later by this movie.The movie makes us sensitive to the way old people are neglected and suffer and how they need some support and LOVE from someone - although strangers.The memoir has also been enacted as a popular play in United Kingdom.I would go with 6.75 out of 10 for this nice to watch movie

aarontp-1 I'm going to keep this brief as I don't want to add any spoilers. If you watch the trailer you will generally get the story quite quickly but it drags out a bit for 1 hour and 40 minutes. The acting is good but I wasn't impressed with the amount of swearing in it. For parents to take young children in (which I didn't but saw others) and then to have have "F" swear words mentioned in a 12a is pretty poor. I wouldn't recommend this for children and should be aimed at the 15 certification. I think there are times when our children are being desensitised to real events when they pick up words, actions and poor behaviour based on a movie. I know the BBFC has given it a 12a and left the decision to parents but from my experience a lot of parents are so naive about these things and then wonder why their child ends up swearing when they've just taken them to a movie full of it.