My Old Lady (2014)

One of my all time favorites.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Many reviewers here seem to have gone to this film led to expect a comedy. But this is about as funny as The Seagull which Chekhov himself imagined was a comedy when he was asked for a description after he'd written it. But that should not matter for this film any more than it does for The Seagull, because the film has a genuine original story, and world-weary, damaged, but unquestionably involving characters.The story is of a bitter, three-times divorced, and more or less bankrupt American, Mathias Gold, who is left a Paris apartment in his father's will. He arrives in Paris obsessed with turning the central and elegant, but neglected property into huge amounts of cash as fast as possible, only to find that it is occupied by the old lady of the title and her daughter and that they hold it in form of life tenancy that Gold finds deeply frustrating.Kevin Kline plays Gold with a sympathy that's unexpected for those of us who know him for rather frenetic parts like that in A Fish Called Wanda. But, not for the first time, it's Maggie Smith who steals the show as the tenant, still quintessentially English, despite living most of her life in France. Likewise, Kristin Scott Thomas is so perfect for her role as the daughter that you feel the film could hardly have been possible without this pairing to play out the deeply complex mother - daughter relationship.The film has flaws and indulges itself a little at times, especially with the rather unnecessary opera singer, but it is, on the whole, nearly perfect. Not to be missed.

After Lady in the van the family wanted to get more movies with Maggie Smith because Maggie Smith was kind of good in lady in the van to put it lightly. We got this along with Florence Foster Jenkins because of a deal. The box cover for My Old Lady seemed like a zany quirky comedy about a once wealthy man Mathias Gold(Kevin Kline) inheriting a apartment in Paris that unknowingly happens to come with Mathilde Girard(Maggie Smith) and her grown up daughter Chloé Girard (Kristin Scott Thomas). We did not get a comedy per say, but what we got did not exactly work either. Before I get into the negatives of this movie (there are a lot sadly) I want to say that the actors are not to blame. Maggie Smith when she is on screen performs as well as always same goes with Kristin Scott Thomas who makes the most of the material written to give a really great performance and Kevin Kline gives a decent job with what he is given. The film is not badly shot and Paris does always look nice. The film does have some story ideas that should make for an interesting story if they had been used better. The main trouble with this movie is the directing and writing which lead it to become a boring melodramatic film. It clearly wants to be the Oscar winning film with its quick shots of French architecture and landmarks. But there is no atmosphere to these shots, Paris feels lifeless and hollow with as much substance as a postcard. There is no real reason as to why the film is set Paris other then the fact that better movies have set themselves in Paris. The setting feels like it should be there because Oscar winning movies tend to set themselves in Paris. As mentioned the film does have some interesting ideas for a story regarding abuse and grief but none of it feel authentic despite everyone playing their characters well, it all feels lifeless and manipulative attempt to wring out tears from the viewer. The lack of sincerity in the writing again make me feel that the writers only put in darker elements because Oscar winning movies often put gritty elements into their movies. The comedy elements are not so much unfunny as just bland weak attempts at humor by Kevin Kline who just seems either bored or struggling with comedic timing. Again the film wants to make me laugh but not put in the correct timing to execute the joke correctly. Maggie Smith is seriously underused in this film, she does not do much, asides from sitting in chairs and talking long serious talks to either Kevin Kline or Kristin Scott Thomas about their problems which at the end of the movie just magically disappear and they all live happily ever after. The ending feels rushed and anti climatic because the conflict just vanishes. I would not recommend My Old Lady, it is wasted potential that focused too much on winning awards then creating a great story that would win awards.

This film has a great cast, and seems to have potential with the DVD tag line reading, "A Classic in the Making". Maybe the person who penned this tag line was trying to be generous but they couldn't bring themselves to call it "An Instant Classic" so they were clever and said "A Classic in the Making" which is ambiguous and not necessarily critical, but does seem to imply that this film has not quite arrived. I believe the director is to blame for this not being a better movie. He needed to bring more depth and emotion and realism out of the characters. The actors gave clichéd and strained performances and there was plenty material for this movie to play off. Set in Paris, secret lovers for decades, uncertain paternal origins, and tragic suicide. The impact was not there and although not a bad movie, it left much to be desired.

This is not a comedy, and the trailer is totally misleading. Maybe this is why I find I didn't like it, but the film is a drama with a disjointed family with difficult past.Surely a film with loads of life wisdom, but still he story doesn't function very well. Didn't find it interesting, it's quite depressive and unfunny, except for a couple of half-funny lines. I would call it a waste of great talent.The film is about a dead father and the ones inheriting a flat and debt after a man none really liked.Nothing to watch if you aren't into serious and tragic dramas with no real plot, and nothing happening except crying, quarreling and talking. A film easy to misinterpret and quite easy to hate if you're looking for something entertaining.