Quartet: Movie Review

Quartet: Movie Review

Cast: Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Dame Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins, Michael Gambon, Sheridan Smith
Director: Dustin Hoffman

Based on the same titled play by Ronald Harwood, Quartet marks Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut.

Courtenay, Connolly and Collins play a group of retired musicians, (Reg, Wilf and Cissy) who are living out their twilight years at Beecham House, a home for elderly musicians. The group used to be in a quartet and every year, the inhabitants of the house come together for an annual concert to celebrate the birth date of Verdi.

The plans this year though are disrupted by the arrival of Dame Maggie Smith's Jean Horton, a once revered singer, who used to be married to Reg. Jean doesn't sing anymore, and with tensions between her and Reg, it looks like this band ain't gonna get back together....which could be disastrous for the fund raising efforts for Beecham House.

Quartet is a gently charming comedy, which will play well to its target older audience. And, perhaps, fans of Downton Abbey, given that Dame Maggie's playing yet another version of her character from that.

Mind you, that said, the veterans are the stars of this piece and each gets their moment to shine. From Courtenay's bitter feelings towards his ex, Connolly's cheeky cantankerousness, Collins' scatterbrained approach and Dame Maggie's somewhat haughty diva, they all work with what little they have in terms of story and script. Sheridan Smith adds a level of sophistication and a touch of youth as the doctor running the house.

With one liner quips and bon mots throughout, Quartet is a pleasant enough, lightly frothy piece which sags a little toward the end; I do feel a little cheated at the end of the film (spoiler) when you don't see the quartet actually sing. Given how many hints there were that Dame Maggie's character was an extraordinary singer, and such a big thing for the quartet to reform and sing, it's a disappointment that that didn't eventuate. Although, it was probably a big ask and could have led to some terrible lip synching....

Hoffman does a fair job of directing - the camera lingers a little too often in some parts and the direction can occasionally veer towards the heavy handed when a lighter touch would have done. The music and rolling English countryside are wonderfully captured on film as the film plays out.

All in all though, Quartet is a solidly pleasant piece, which hits the right notes for its audience - I hesitate to use the word nice - which will proffer up a point of difference in amongst all the other seasonal fare being released at Christmas.

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