Review of Quartet (2012) by Phil P — 08 Jan 2013

"I am about to say something rude.".

A victim of the 'nothings on' week. Well not strictly true there was a remake of a terrible horror movie but that's neither here nor there. 'Quartet' turned out to be a decent film that I probably would watch again.

From 'Mr.Hoffman' it's about a group of retired operatic stars who are practicing for a 'gala' to keep the home afloat. For the most part this takes a back-set and mostly focuses on the relationship between 'Reggie' and 'Jean'. This is a bit of a weird thing to say because it would seem that the latter is the main plot. But i'm glad that what was originally the main focus switches because 'the raising of money plot' is such a cliched idea that i'd have probably spent the entire film rolling my eyes.

By shifting the focus to these two characters it takes a better direction. And I feel that because I can't relate being a good 60 years younger than any of these characters i'm probably being a bit unfair - so add another 10 to my score if you're in the relate-able bracket. 'Connolly' is fantastic in this as the over-sexualized guy and offers the most comic relief. They're all endearing characters - bar 'Jean' to put frankly I hated, she' a horrible, mean person - but she does become more bearable at the end.

Following on from last years 'Marigold Hotel' comes another film about the relationships between over 60s a trend of films that will probably begin to grow. It'l definitely struggle with other demographics but then again they're of no concern. And i'm sure it'll do well with those that relate.