Quartet

9/3/2022

Four friends decide to work together to put on a concert to raise money to prevent the retirement home/orphanage/local theater/etc. from closing down. We haven’t seen this before, have we? Still, based on the high powered cast they assembled here, I had hopes for it. Hope is a beautiful thing. So I was disappointed. The Billy Connolly character seemed first two-dimensional to me and was barely carried off by the comedian;’s natural charm and winning smile. The Cedrick character felt over the top and didn’t add much to the film despite a strong enough performance by the actor. I think the plot and the script let them down, but they soldiered on and made the best of it. Billy Connolly’s character was ironically at his best when he was serious rather than flirting and pushing peoples’

5/24/2024

This is the second "Quartet" film to feature Dame Maggie Smith and I definitely prefer this one! The story is set in a retirement home for musicians and singers, and one that is gearing up for it's annual fund-raising gala as well as for a much anticipated new arrival. It's that latter event that sets the cat amongst the pigeons for the amiable threesome of "Wilf" (Sir Billy Connolly), "Reggie" (Sir Tom Courtenay) and "Cissy" (Pauline Collins - who ought surely to be a dame by now?). The legend that is "Jean Horton" - a veteran of La Scala, duly arrives and it turns out that she (Dame Maggie) used to be married to "Reggie" and now he's a bit upset. Meantime, the gala - under the direction of the flamboyantly hammy "Cedric" (Sir Michael Gambon) is facing a disaster after it's star turn had