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EUR FILM REVIEW: How about You
Holiday Comedy Has Aging Brits Sending Santa Their Bucket List
*Since I consider myself something of a trend-spotter, I want to start by pointing out that this is the second film in a week set in the United Kingdom spoiled by a brief, gratuitous display of anti-Semitism.
First, in I Can't Think Straight, we had a Palestinian and an East Indian agreeing that "What the Middle East doesn't need is more Jews." Now, in How about You, there's a cantankerous old coot played by Vanessa Redgrave who berates her health aide with the words, "Why don't you go back to Israel where you belong," adding "You're all the same."
What's curious is that in each movie the offensive language was mistakenly directed at a character presumed to be Jewish. Still, in both cases, the epithet amounted to a jarring distraction which had nothing to do with the plot.
Be that as it may, How about You is an otherwise charming little picture set at the scenic site of an old folks nestled in a rustic region of Northern Ireland. The point of departure is right before Christmas, when most of the codgers lodging there are being picked up by relatives for the holidays.
Kate (Orla Brady), the dour widow who runs the place, is taking a break to be with her own mum for a couple of weeks, so she leaves her five remaining residents in the hands of her younger sister, Ellie (Hayley Atwell). Freewheeling Ellie is a troublemaking sparkplug who shakes the resigned quintet out of the doldrums, inspiring them to do whatever they darn well please, whether that involve disobeying doctors orders, playing poker, drinking booze, smoking pot, or belting out the classic show tune ("I like New York in June, how about you?") cribbed in the title.
Besides the irascible Georgia (Redgrave), Ellie challenges terminally-ill Alice (Joan O'Hara), grumpy old Donald (Joss Ackland) and repressed spinster sisters, Heather (Brenda Fricker) and Hazel (Imelda Staunton), to live what's left of their lives to the fullest, even if that behavior costs the establishment its elder care license. While this gang's sinful pleasures might not be nearly as decadent as the hedonistic indulgences of the bon vivants of The Bucket List, their relatively-modest last wishes nonetheless allow for a more meaningful meditation on what really matters.
I like Dublin in December, how about you?
Very good (3 stars)
Rated R for violence, profanity and graphic images.
Running time: 90 minutes
Studio: Strand Releasing
To see a trailer for How about You, visit:
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/how-about-you/trailer
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