Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Bob
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
vgwelland
I don't believe there are so many negative reviews of this brilliant series. There is nothing as comparable in today's TV fare - mostly crime and police series! How refreshing it was to have a series so well scripted, directed and acted about PEOPLE for a change. The USA is lucky in that practically everything seems available on DVD. I wish this series were to be released on Region 2 DVD! How lucky we are though to have 4OD where i was able to see this series again. There is a rich vein of archive material in the vaults of our TV and film studios which should more easily be accessed. In Britain we are not even getting the very best films from the MGM archive on DVD.
selffamily
I started to watch this - I rented it and I'm not sure that I'm sorry. It is unbearably slow to start with, and as a previous comment has said, the mother-in-law was excruciating, so much so in fact that I started fast-forwarding her by the third installment; it didn't affect the story. (It's not as though there are no older women in the British film or television industry, who could act. The story was simple but silly - hard to imagine a middle-aged woman in such circumstances simply moving back to the marital home after five years; hard to imagine a hard-core black baptist church in Croydon (am I wrong? have I been away too long?) and hard to imagine a daughter as this one is; also that there was no autopsy on the old man? Well knitted all together, it begins to work by episode 3, to the extent that I wanted to see what happens. The ending is so improbable it's lovely. You know from discussion that it may not last, but she doesn't care. And neither did I. I think by then I was numb. This production was a bit of a conundrum - all these very clever people doing something so mediocre.
peterjb1
Let me first of all say that I typically love British series, and I particularly admire Judi Dench. But this... Everybody was so stereotyped; disgusting, coughing and spitting old grandfather; catty older mother-in-law; neurotic young woman--you name it. I, too, have no idea why the love-interest preacher was black, yet alone why he was American; and Giles' bi-sexuality seemed completely irrelevant to me. I suppose the latter two characters were written and cast that way to provide for the injection of certain token minorities. Francesca Folan, who played daughter Phyllida, seemed to be overacting to the nth degree, and in my opinion the plot had more holes than a colander. I'm not sure, but I don't believe this was ever released in a VHS format and was not released as a DVD until 2005, some sixteen years after the original series aired. This smacks of an attempt to capitalize on Ms Dench's recent increase in popularity. She has performed so well in so many films, I would not waste your time renting this.
sheyenne
I didn't have high expectations for this series to begin with. While it is true that the pacing is slower than As Time Goes By, and I didn't grapple too much on the dialogue as much as I did with ATGB. I found the pacing to just fit the storyline. The plot is not in a hurry to tell a dozen incidences of comic nature but rather delves on the inner psyche of a lonely person and how she is coming to terms with the reality and fighting her unhappiness. The storyline is simple, a middle-aged woman is divorced by her husband for another woman. She tries to make her single life work but is just too lonely to be alone. From moving in with her ex-husband and his lover and a very naggy mother-in-law to camping in her daughter's flat along with 4 other people to falling in love (or simply fancying the thought of "love") to a much younger man. In 4 episodes, we will see that it's not only Brigette (Judi Dench's character) that behaves badly. This little dark comedy series gives warmth and compassion to those who had been neglegted and had risen up to fight loneliness. And don't miss Joely Richardson who is absolutely incredible from her Nip/Tuck-sultry persona to playing this gawky, hypochondriachal pansy. A blast!
