Review of Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont (2005) by Melanie S — 13 Jul 2007

[font=Century Gothic]"Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" is about the widowed Sarah Palfrey(Joan Plowright) who moves into the Claremont Hotel in London in order not to be a burden to her daughter and to have some independence in her life. The hotel is close to her grandson, Desmond, who works at the archives but after several weeks, he has not called her. While on the way back from mailing a letter, Sarah trips outside of the apartment of Ludovic Meyer(Rupert Friend), a writer and busker, who cares for her injuries. And she enlists him to pretend to be her grandson...[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]While maybe not appearing to be much at first, "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" is somehow touching without being maudlin. Overall, it is about the marginalization of the elderly in society, especially when their younger relatives do not make time for them.(In response, the movie gives a broader definition of family.) In addition, Sarah is more than normally out of touch with the time she is living in.(When somebody loses a person in their life, they lose a part of themselves.) Which is why she and Ludovic connect so well, since he feels so disconnected to his own time, using a manual typewriter, which I thought was a nice touch, along with being a very polite and considerate young man. [/font].