I really didn’t want to like The Lady In The Van: too cosy,
too literate middle class, too smug, no balls, etc, was what I expected. How
wrong could I have been?
Director Nicholas Hytner treads lightly on Alan Bennett’s
autobiographical tale of the eponymous lady living on his drive for 15 years:
the humour rolls easily from droll witticisms to barbed sarcasm as the
relationship between Alex Jenning’s Bennetts (yes, two Alan Bennetts) and Maggie
Smith’s irascible, rude, uncouth and conniving Miss Shepherd unfolds and deepens to produce an unstoppably and genuinely entertaining film.
The truth is gradually teased out of Miss Shepherd, and the
impact of the double tragedy at the heart of her life is all the more for
knowing that the story is true. But this is not a depressing a film: with a
stunning, through the fourth wall finale (which may ask too much of some
viewers), it is life-affirming.
Maggie Smith is of course excellent and expect BAFTA to
favour her, may be even Oscar, with a nomination. Alex Jennings simply ‘is’
Alan Bennett – there is no performance here.
The supporting cast are uniformly excellent too, but
particular mention must be made of Roger Allam’s odious neighbour: another case
of an actor perfectly suiting a role.
My advice is take a few hankies: whether through laughing or
crying (and you will probably do both), you will shed tears.
Score: 9/10
The Lady In The Van is released on 13 November.
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