Wordiezett So much average

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Kirpianuscus a simple friendship story. charming for the chemistry between the lead actors. for the presence of Joan Plowright . for the surprising performance of Rupert Friend. and for the spring air. for the passing time as a state who becomes almost material. for the forms of joy and delight and sadness and hope. and, maybe, for the status of refuge for the admirers not only of romanticism in different nuances but , maybe, first, for the conquerors of the lights and shadows and colors and flavors of the past. a film like an oasis. and, maybe, this is its basic meaning.

Craig Thorsen Joan Plowright does an exemplary performance as a widow dealing with her later years. After moving into a questionable guest hotel in London to be near to her oblivious family who seem to avoid familial relationships, a chance meeting with a young writer broadens the widow's world again. Their time together gives both a chance to reflect upon life, one at the beginning for him, and one near the end for her.The performances of Dame Joan Plowright and up and coming actor Rupert Friend are enhanced by fine character portrayals by Anna Massey as the hotels dowager and Timothy Bateson as the hotels doorman.Director Dan Ireland has made a remarkable film from the book by Elizabeth Taylor which deals with relationships. Using the natural settings and with fine acting this film explore new and old relationship. The story is about heart touching kindness between people and an accepting of ones own worth and staying true to values.

jmbwithcats Summary: Tomorrow is made for some, and tomorrow may never come... Score: 9/10 A movie my mom asked me to see. She didn't recommend it, she asked me to see it, so in a way I feel as though she's here watching it with me, perhaps invited to learn something about the way my mom feels about her own life, and to me that's a very special invitation.Joan Plowright is outrageously genius as Mrs. Palfrey, the traditional and sensitive, thoughtful widow who is coming into a new chapter of her life. One many call her Golden Years.Anna Massey has the funniest lines and is adorable. "I watch Sex and the City. It makes me feel better knowing I won't be around very much longer." "I'm just exercising my rights. It keeps my heart going. A little thing I learned from Mrs. Thatcher." One afternoon, coming home from posting a letter to a grandson who never calls, she trips in front of a young man's apartment who comes to her aid. There is something about their meeting where she's says indignantly I'm fine! And he says kindly, no you're not and brings her inside for a moment. There is something very moving about this meeting, as the viewer realizes they could be in either position any time in our lives. Just the right amount of time is spent to let that settle on the surface of consciousness if one is so obliged, but not long enough to force it if you aren't.She invites him, Ludovic Meyer, played by Rupert Friend who bares a striking resemblance to Orlando Bloom, but what an actor! to visit her one Saturday evening for dinner at the Claremont. but when all the other ladies think she means her grandson, she doesn't quite know how to tell them her grandson still has not called, and thus begins a ruse, but a sweet and kindly ruse.Okay I lied, Anna Massey doesn't have a monopoly on the funny lines. Everyone is quite brilliant.The Claremont is a marvelous and quaint hotel in London, but what truly stands out are the personalities. And perhaps in a Harold and Maude sort of way, the two will help each other in astonishing and unexpected ways. In fact the aforementioned film is mentioned at one point.For the "grandson", he begins writing a novel entitled "We Aren't Allowed To Die Here" concerning a rule Mrs. Palfrey told to him that evening at dinner.It reminds me of a woman I met in San Diego. She was in her 90s, and the life she lived, the memories of her life, truly a treat to listen to. That kind of walk through history is never so rich and moving and meaningful as when it is from the person themselves. I wish I remembered her name, she was a remarkable woman.Is it possible when Mrs. Palfrey calls "Major" this is an homage to the famous character from Fawlty Towers played by the very much loved and respected Ballard Berkeley who passed in 1988? We watch as Mrs. Palfrey relives the happiest moments of her life, somewhat vicariously through her new friend Ludovic, as he finds the love of his life through finding the catalyst which brought Mr.s Palfrey and her dead husband Arthur together so long ago, in the film A Brief Encounter by Noel Coward. After watching this film I highly recommend finding a copy of the romantic and beautiful film mentioned by Noel Coward, Brief Encounter (1945), as I am going to watch and review that film next! In the end, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is not an ending, but a moment in time. A touching and poignant snapshot of a poem laying on a sidewalk. A ripple on the water and then no more. But something lives on, something beautiful, and we should find the time to share that with our own loved ones, friends, and strangers. For life is so short, and we truly are together here in this crazy and lonely mixed up world.The song "For All We Know", I must confess I already knew how to play on the guitar :) For all we know we may never meet again Before you go make this moment sweet again We wont say good night until the last minute Ill hold out my hand and my heart will be in it For all we know this may only be a dream We come and go like a ripple on a stream So love me tonight; tomorrow was made for some Tomorrow may never come for all we know So love me tonight; tomorrow was made for some Tomorrow may never come for all we know

nycritic Taking a cue (in an albeit more restrained way) from where HAROLD AND MAUDE left off, Dame Elizabeth Taylor's poignant story MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT gets a simple but utterly engaging translation unto the big screen and becomes a quiet, but emotionally satisfying comedy-drama of manners that is much, much more.Mrs. Palfrey (Dame Joan Plowright) is a widow who practically has been abandoned by her family. She's come to London on a spree, thinking that the Claremont is a fancy hotel, wanting to reunite with her grandson and at least have some familial connection resumed. The grandson turns out to be a fluke -- he never answers her calls -- as Mrs. Palfrey realizes at the same time, the hotel is a retirement home of sorts, something that makes her an immediate outsider (a tenant played by Anna Massey is quick to tell her that she is overdressed for dinner on one instance). Her alienation increases as other guests in the hotel insinuate that maybe she doesn't have a grandson after all.A fluke encounter on the way to return a book puts her in the path of Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend), an aspiring writer. Both become fast acquaintances, and Mrs. Palfrey asks him a favor: to pose as her grandson. Which he does.MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT presents this deceptively simple premise with elegance and attention to its characters, who are never underwritten or seem to behave according to the expectations of their respective roles. Unlike HAROLD AND MAUDE, however, there is only one scene where Rupert Friend shows his chest, and his character's relationship with Plowright is purely a meeting of souls who learn from each other and establish an unbreakable bond. It's a rare story in an industry that tends to neglect older characters as people with simple needs, and Plowright's portrayal of Mrs. Palfrey is up at a level of depth and texture displayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins in THE WORLD'S FASTEST Indian. One of the quietest, yet most intense dramas of 2005.