The
Lady In The Van (2015/TriStar/Sony Pictures
Classic Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+ Sound: A Extras: A Film: C+
Based
on a true story (mostly), writer Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) has one
Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), a strange old lady with even a stranger
background living in a van in his driveway. What was only to be
temporary ending up to be 15 years! This is the premise of Nicholas
Hynter's new comedy The Lady In The Van (2015).
Miss
Shepherd is a strange old lady, while arguably homeless, lives in her
van on the streets of London. While treated with respect and
tolerance, she finally ends up on the driveway of Alan Bennett. As
Alan shares his driveway (and lavatory) with this Miss Shepherd as
his muse, he struggles to understand her past. Miss Shepherd seemed
well educated, a former nun, and also has a past secret in which she
attempts to hide. Alan himself seems to 2 personalities, one the
writer and two the person who interacts and has to deal with Miss
Shepherd. Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, Claire Foy and Frances de
la Tour also star.
This was an amusing film, but more likely I
would I watched this film because of Maggie Smith than the film
itself. It was one of those rare films where you watch it for the
character relationships than the story itself. Hynter previously hit
pay dirt with The Madness Of King George and a new, recent
version of The History Boys. With this only his 6th feature
film, he is picky and his friend Alan Bennett wrote all three films.
Not great, but worth a look for those interested.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image look like a digital
shoot and is more consistent than it should have been, but the
lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix is very, very well recorded
and mixed, especially for a dialogue-based comedy/drama. Extras
include Deleted Scenes, Maggie Smith playing as Miss Shepherd, Making
Of the film, visual effects, Commentary and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
