Review of Ladies in Lavender (2004) by Walter M — 14 Oct 2006

[font=Century Gothic]"Ladies in Lavender" takes place in 1930's on the English coast where sisters Ursula(Judi Dench) and Janet(Maggie Smith) Widdington enjoy their quiet lives together until one day a young man(Daniel Bruhl) washes up on shore almost on their doorstep. Luckily, he is still alive, having apparently survived a shipwreck. Dr. Mead(David Warner) diagnoses the young man as having nothing more serious than a broken ankle. So, he is left to recuperate in the sisters' home. And as he gets better, they find that he speaks no English, comes from Poland and that his name is Andrea...[/font].

[font=Century Gothic]"Ladies in Lavender" is a sweet, nice, gentle movie about life in a bucolic setting but its straightforwardness is both a blessing and a curse for it does make the resolution extremely hard to take.(And two of the characters do not behave in a very credible way, either.) In a way, the film plays off the perceptions of the characters versus the viewer's preconceptions of what may happen. Overall, the movie is a testament to the impossibility of making a bad movie with both Judi Dench and Maggie Smith starring in it. And Natascha McElhone(should ditch the accents, though) and David Warner are good in support. [/font].