Hampstead (2019)

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Emily (Diane Keaton) has adjusted to being widowed a year ago in all respects other than financially. She is trying to keep her poor finances a secret from the other residents of the upmarket apartment house she lives in when she encounters Donald (Brendan Gleeson), known locally as The Tramp, who lives in a shack built from scrap in thr grounds of a long-demolished hospital. Donald happily keeps himself to himself and makes to demands on anyone, but the owners of the site have served an eviction notice on him so that they can redevelop the site. Donald's instinctive reaction is aggressive bluster, because he doesn't know what else to do. And so Emily starts helping him to obtain Adverse Possession (Squatters Rights). Which doesn't go down well in her social circle.Hampstead is an affluent, upper-middle class area of north London which is mildly snobbish and, paradoxically, under the impression that it isn't, and this underlies the humour in this fanciful geriatric romance, based on a real-life case of someone who had made his home on a forgotten, but ultimately valuable, plot of land.Hampstead is photographed very prettily. Diane Keaton has a little more substance than in her last couple of outings, and Brendan Gleeson does comedy as well as he ever has: he doesn't get too much opportunity for comedy usually, which is a shame.Jason Watkins, as usual, steals every scene he is in.Real life, I suspect, had little in the way of romance accompanying the legal issues whereas the fate of the two ill-matched lovers is the raisin d'etre for the movie. And that's fine. The resolution is a bit too glib but, otherwise, this is very gentle and likeable.

That lazy evening, when you just wanna cozy up, and share some giggles, this will do. A decent story, with a good cast.

There are some charming moments mostly provided by Diane Keaton. The cemetery looks quaint and historic. It's mildly interesting how a squatter in a public park can get rights to land - a rather dumb rule of law in England. But if those are the highlights then there isn't enough substance for a movie. Brendan Gleeson is just too Santa Claus looking to be a romantic lead - considering he is a lot younger than Diane Keaton in real life. Their romance is totally unconvincing. Also Diane's character is kind of annoying and an ungrateful friend. It's not her friend's duty to tell he about her husband's infidelities. Not a must watch.

Importing a Hollywood veteran into a quintessentially English romantic comedy can sometimes be magic, sometimes not. Hampstead (2017) might have been a great British romantic comedy but instead it must work with an inauthentic American personality who limits the film's impact. Fortunately, brilliant cinematography rescues the film enough to produce a visually delicious but lightweight story of late-life romance between a lady and a tramp.Based on a true story, Donald Horner (Brendan Gleeson) has been a squatter on London's Hampstead Heath for 17 years. He is a surly off-the-grid loner who avoids all trappings of modern life in a quaint shanty shack built from other people's rubbish. Within a binocular's view from across the road, American widow Emily Walters (Diane Keaton) spies him bathing in the pond and out of curiosity soon invents an excuse to meet him. Property developers have targeted the land, and Donald must defend himself from an eviction notice. He becomes a cause celebre with do-gooders and naysayers petitioning for and against his squatter's rights while he and Emily get together despite pushback from her posh Pommy friends. This predictable narrative of tramp versus society offers modest delights but few surprises.There are three noteworthy parts to this uneven film: the cinematography and the two co-stars. The first is simply wonderful: Hampstead village and the Heath are lovingly filmed and the charming shanty shack look like something out of a fairy tale. Every time Donald or Emily walk down the narrow track into the woods it becomes an act of escapism from urban living and entry into a floral wonderland. Brendan Gleeson is cast to perfection as a girthsome giant with craggy features and expressive eyes. His Irish accent complements the natural beauty of the Heath to which he convincingly belongs. And then there is Diane Keaton. What made her famous forty years ago in Woody Allen films do not translate easily to this contemporary British rom-com. The camera has tried too hard and its efforts are just too obvious: repeat use of backlit shots, glowing soft-focus, cutesy beret hat and Annie Hall smiles make it hard to engage with her character as a real person. In contrast to Donald's melodic Irish-ness, Emily's timing and tone are often grating. For example, when Donald's home of 17 years is cruelly trashed in a turning point moment, Emily's breezy response might work in New York but here is totally disengaged from what has just happened.Donald's story is based on a real character and a real fight between a homeless eccentric and the imperatives of capitalism so there is a serious side to Hampstead. But this lightweight rom-com is unlikely to raise consciousness of what is means to be homeless. The lukewarm chemistry between the senior lovebirds will excite few and the sleep-inducing musical score even less. Whether casting Keaton can add American baby boomer audiences to an essentially home-grown British story remains to be seen. Filmmakers sometimes need reminding that older viewers can handle more challenge than one-dimensional films like Paris Can Wait (2017) and Hampstead (2017).