My Old Lady

Trailers for My Old Lady - and even the film title itself - lead one to believe this is a comedy. It's not. Instead, it's a claustrophobic film about the wide-reaching effects an affair can have on families. The lead actors - Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott-Thomas - are not well served by the script. They seem to have their motivations yanked about willy- nilly with no regard for what happened just a few scenes before. The same person wrote the stage play, the screenplay, AND directed the film. It might have been better to have had a different director who could have addressed the astonishing leaps of credibility the audience keeps having to make. Even after all the revelatory speeches, I just didn't care what happened to these two-dimensional people. Not recommended.

Sadly, this film is a turkey, which even Maggie Smith hasn't been able to save, which is saying something. The storyline is good, the scenery gorgeous, but the script, the score and Kevin Kline let it down completely. It is the cheesiest portrayal of Paris I have ever seen, smothered with cliché accordion music throughout. Kevin Kline, who I loved in "A fish called Wanda" is miscast here. His acting of an emotionally damaged person is ruined by his hamming up and his apposite humour. Kristin Scott Thomas does her best, which does well, but her character is not totally believable. Maggie Smith is great, as usual, although I don't think she is a credible French woman (far too English). Best avoided, unless you are in a need of a filler.

My husband and I love Paris, Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith; so a film with all three was a must on our viewing list. However, we came across some pretty bad reviews and wondered whether we should see it at all. The cinema was a small one and, as we decided to go to the early afternoon show, it wasn't very crowded. We were delighted to find the three leading actors lived up to their usual high standard; the story line worked for us right to the end; and the views of Paris as well as the interior of the apartment managed to capture the mood very well. From finding it really quite amusing at first, the film took a rather darker turn two thirds of the way in; but we felt that the way it was handled sent out a very real and necessary message. I presume it could be classed as a black comedy...but this should not put you off from seeing it, and one does not leave feeling it was a waste of time or money!

I really don't know how to describe this film, because it looked so miserable since the first scene appeared on the screen. then most of the time, the scenes were shot in the dark rooms of the apartment, then the old-fart candidate Kevin Kline with his white beard all around, facing Maggie Smith, the old lady, so old but still so amazingly knows how to delver her dialog and at same time acting so wonderfully, talking about many things of the past that actually got nothing very interesting at all. the Paris foreground and background where the apartment located also looked so miserable and constant overcast with gloomy and dim lightness. The dialog is boring, the acting also boring, all the characters in this miserable film also extremely boring and uninteresting. there's really nothing big deal enough to allow you have the least chance to feel connected and interested. My only question about this film is why people would have invested their money to produce this pointless film? Why we would be interested in watching a loser's journey to Paris where an old apartment became his inheritance after his father's death? Why we have to watch some disenchanted miseries of a miserable story that neither heavy enough nor light enough to make this film really going somewhere? There's nothing really want to tell and nothing really important to allow the audience to absorb or to be interested enough to get connected. This is a film that should never have been produced, just a weird taste like the diet coke that always stays in your mouth, no matter how you drink it, one sip or the whole can.

I used to be a "Parisian" well really only by birth; but I carry a lot of love about France and Paris. I also have a lot of feelings for Maggy Smith that has been rather omnipresent recently in cinemas. As for Kevin kline I always kept a vivid and enjoyable memory from "A fish call wanda". So I was rather comfortable in giving a go to "My old Lady" although I did not particularly like the tittle. I was not disappointed even if I felt a little boredom in the first half. And if one likes film for entertainment, in my view these should entertain as it entertained me. I did not feel like analysing the whole work too much as this is not why I watch films. For me it's important to leave the cinema with a rewarding feeling, whether I find the film intelligent, funny, or well paced as long it brings me something I feel worthwhile I'm happy. So I got a free trip back to Paris, laughters, and also something to think about! Four of us on the occasion had a good time!

If you have an interest in really great singers - Caruso, Gigli, McCormack, Tauber, etc. - you know that a really great singer can make you believe even a piece of fluff is good music - until you hear it sung later by just an average singer. I was reminded of that near the end of this movie, when Kevin Kline sings the duet Là, ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni with a woman he sees along the banks of the Seine River. The three leads in this movie are all first-rate actors, and they give fine performances again here. But this script is a mess. The first half is throw-away fluff, vaguely cute but very weak. You can guess that there must have been something between the elderly French woman who lives in the apartment (Smith) and Kline's father, and so you wait for that to be revealed. But with it, out of the blue, comes all this anger on the part of the two children, Kline and Thomas. "Where did this come from?" you ask. Were we given any inkling this was in the works? And then the anger subsides and the movie is over. I saw in the final credits that this started as a stage play. I wonder if the play was any better? The first half of this script goes nowhere. And then, when it suddenly gets dramatic, we're not prepared for it. I give it three points out of ten, one for each of the fine actors who make dross look like gold while they perform the lines - but it remains dross nonetheless.

My Old Lady is one of these movies that no one watches, and for good reasons. Forced to watch, I discovered a genre I didn't know of. The movie is basically filmed stage theater in 3 or 4 locations. The Paris shots are postcard-cheesy. There is no cinematography whatsoever, and the only reasons why you are sometimes reminded you're not watching a telenovela are the gratuitous heavy-handed movie references (Taxi Driver and The Godfather, mind you). The acting is forced and cramped, except for the old lady. The story alternates between comedy and dark-serious, but it is impossible to have empathy for the characters who suffer with the great pain of inheriting a 12-million dollar apartment. French people can't speak English, they are a bit dumb, lol. Otherwise, racial stereotyping all the way - the garbage guy is black, the doctor's Jewish, the thief's a Roma. There a few comedic moments that will make you smile; any average comedy should do the trick better.

The plot is unusual to a point and interesting. The main characters are flawless and there are some auxiliary ones that are also quite memorable. I thoroughly enjoyed the tad sentimental and contrived story, the relatively quick build up set the scene quickly, and after that the layers got peeled away revealing new story lines, making the entire film very enjoyable for the whole of its duration. However, this website forces one to make the review last more than ten lines of text which is ridiculous. If there is nothing more to say, it is surely better to keep it short and sweet than to carry on churning words for the sake of it. IMDb should urgently consider changing this silly rule.

Wow. Though my childhood upbringing does not mirror that of the characters in this movie, I come from a toxic childhood. The pain and dysfunction of these characters resonated with me in a profound way. Narcissistic parents can abuse their children and all those around them without overt verbal abuse and without ever laying a hand on them, and sometimes, that type of abuse can inflict the worst kind of lasting trauma and psychological damage. Living under the burden of your parents' sins can be a crushing lifelong weight. While they live their life exactly as they see fit every single day of their lives with no regard for the consequences or the fallout for those around them, when they have children, it's their children that pay the highest price for their parents' sins of constantly seeking and receiving instant gratification. Instant gratification is something that many parents will steer their children away from after the age of 2 or 3-years-old in favor of more thoughtful, considerate, long-term rewards. However, children of narcissists are denied gratification growing up, as their parents claim it all for themselves, and the pied piper must be paid. Ironically, the trauma is compounded by the fact that narcissists absolutely believe themselves to be the best and most loving parents any child could have, giving themselves God-like status, who can do no wrong in their own minds. When someone gets hurt, they will say that it was meant to be, and they will tell any lie necessary to fit that narrative. Children want and need most of all to be loved, cherished, and valued. Children of narcissists grow up without having those basic needs met. Instead, they become useful tools, and they're "lucky" if they also become attractive possessions to their parents. The flip side of that is that if they are not their parent's tool or an attractive possession, then they are of no value to their parent. I found Kevin Kline's Mathias authentic and believable. His pain was palpable. Maggie Smith did an excellent job, as well. I thought her brave to play Mathilde Girard, as Mrs. Girard is not likable. Kirsten Scott Thomas' performance was very good, too, once you discover the personal damage she's concealed. This is a quiet film. The story unfolds slowly, which was exactly how I needed to see it play out. I felt like I was eavesdropping, like I was lurking and seeing and hearing what was not for me to know just as Mathias and Chloé lived under the burden of their parents' lies, and through no fault and no choice of their own, had become a very part of the front designed to disguise the lies for an entire lifetime. If all of this seems completely foreign to your experience, you may completely despise this movie. This may be a trigger for some. Or maybe, you'll begin to discover that the burden you carry was bestowed upon you by those, who should have loved and sheltered you the most. Without your consent, those sins are not really your burden. The lies are not your truth. Maybe your perspective will be changed however slight. The discovery of a common thread can lead to an epiphany if only a small one. The three lead characters carried this well all the way to its satisfying end. Watch, and if you feel that your soul was damaged long ago by means beyond your control, take this short journey with Mathias, Mathilde, and Chloé, and hopefully, find a bit of solace in the truth.

25 November 2014 Fiona's Second Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester Tonight - My Old Lady. I thought this was going to be a comedy, but in reality the best mildly funny scenes were all included in the trailer. Having said that, this was a very touching film about relationships and dysfunctional families and a very strange set of French Laws. In a nutshell, Mathias Gold, played by Kevin Kline, inherits an apartment in France from his late father. Spending his last dime to travel to Paris he discovers to his dismay that the apartment comes with a tenant Mathilde Girard (Maggie Smith) who is allowed to stay there until her death, and to compound things he has to pay rent to her. Determined to find a way to sell the apartment and make some money Mathias tries everything he can to achieve his goal. As the story progresses we meet Chloe who is Mathilde's daughter and has issues of her own. Although slow in places this charming film winds it's way through the streets of Paris much as the seine flows past Notre Dame and once again having watched a film set in France I find myself wanting to go and visit once again.