This was the two time Oscar winning actor Dustin Hoffman's debut as director and he played it safe, if that's what he was going for, by picking a successful play by fame writer Ronald Harwood who also wrote the screen adaptation. Hoffman, who is well known for his meticulous and focused approach to acting, no doubt approached this new project with the same diligence, and who better to have in one's cast than well established and consummate professionals like the key players, if you're aiming for outstanding results. Well, he succeeded; there is little we can fault 'Quartet' with except one detail which I'll mention a little further down. So bravo director Hoffman.
I thoroughly enjoy British comedies, whether they be the outrageous kind or the light variety; this one is of the light variety and thus we get to watch some solid acting in the scenes that are more for character development than for humour. Leading the pack are Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon; that's what I meant by established and consummate professionals. The supporting cast was also up to the task.
The storyline is straightforward; we are introduced to four of the five key players at the beginning of the film as they are rehearsing for an annual gala at the retirement home for musicians called Beechum House, but that also includes singers and of course fame director Cedric Livingston, played by Michael Gambon. Livingston is a pompous and egotistical character with a slight short term memory handicap, so the rest of the residents are not at all intimidated by Cedric, starting with singer Wilf Bond, played by Billy Connolly, who only refers to Livingston as Sid, something that tends, only momentarily of course, to get under the director's skin. Connolly's character gets away with flirting, he does mention he thinks of sex every seven seconds, as if that was another art he enjoys, like nobody's business. Cissy and Reginald, played respectively by Pauline Collins and Tom Courtenay are two other members of a quartet that was supposed to perform at the gala until the fourth member became unavailable. That vacant spot becomes the central focus of the group when a new arrival at the home shows up. By the way, home is such an understatement for the wonderful domain that is Beechum, an ideal setting where I could only hope to end up myself; a stately manor with sprawling greens and wooded trails, nestled in the English countryside. That new arrival is diva Jean Horton, played by Maggie Smith; she and Reggie were once married. The plot thickened just right. The four singers once sang as a quartet, a performance unsurpassed by any other since; however, Jean was never to perform again in her retirement. The plot thickened some more.
Maggie Smith's presence could not stop me from realizing there is a movie genre in that a bunch of talented and aged professionals actors, the Brits in particular, when grouped for a movie project are what one would call grey cinema; she did such good work in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I looked forward to seeing Quartet even more.
Now about the detail that brings the only blemish to this whole thing, as I wrote earlier, is that the annual gala, this one in particular is suppose to be a make or break fundraiser; without its financial success, Beechum faces closure. There is nothing throughout the movie that even hints at why they are facing such a predicament, and if that wasn't enough, the audience we see at the gala in the end could hardly explain how the home could possibly be saved or have expected it, by such a diminutive venue. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie enough and those who like light comedy should as well.
I thoroughly enjoy British comedies, whether they be the outrageous kind or the light variety; this one is of the light variety and thus we get to watch some solid acting in the scenes that are more for character development than for humour. Leading the pack are Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon; that's what I meant by established and consummate professionals. The supporting cast was also up to the task.
The storyline is straightforward; we are introduced to four of the five key players at the beginning of the film as they are rehearsing for an annual gala at the retirement home for musicians called Beechum House, but that also includes singers and of course fame director Cedric Livingston, played by Michael Gambon. Livingston is a pompous and egotistical character with a slight short term memory handicap, so the rest of the residents are not at all intimidated by Cedric, starting with singer Wilf Bond, played by Billy Connolly, who only refers to Livingston as Sid, something that tends, only momentarily of course, to get under the director's skin. Connolly's character gets away with flirting, he does mention he thinks of sex every seven seconds, as if that was another art he enjoys, like nobody's business. Cissy and Reginald, played respectively by Pauline Collins and Tom Courtenay are two other members of a quartet that was supposed to perform at the gala until the fourth member became unavailable. That vacant spot becomes the central focus of the group when a new arrival at the home shows up. By the way, home is such an understatement for the wonderful domain that is Beechum, an ideal setting where I could only hope to end up myself; a stately manor with sprawling greens and wooded trails, nestled in the English countryside. That new arrival is diva Jean Horton, played by Maggie Smith; she and Reggie were once married. The plot thickened just right. The four singers once sang as a quartet, a performance unsurpassed by any other since; however, Jean was never to perform again in her retirement. The plot thickened some more.
Maggie Smith's presence could not stop me from realizing there is a movie genre in that a bunch of talented and aged professionals actors, the Brits in particular, when grouped for a movie project are what one would call grey cinema; she did such good work in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I looked forward to seeing Quartet even more.
Now about the detail that brings the only blemish to this whole thing, as I wrote earlier, is that the annual gala, this one in particular is suppose to be a make or break fundraiser; without its financial success, Beechum faces closure. There is nothing throughout the movie that even hints at why they are facing such a predicament, and if that wasn't enough, the audience we see at the gala in the end could hardly explain how the home could possibly be saved or have expected it, by such a diminutive venue. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie enough and those who like light comedy should as well.