Summary
Ladies In Lavender (PG) Stars: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Daniel Bruhl, Natascha McElhone, David Warner, Miriam Margolyes, Freddie Jones 104 mins THE writing and directing debut of actor Charles Dance is what I'd call "nice". That may be damning it with faint praise but the only way to describe it. There's nothing here to offend anyone - certainly no gross-out humour, heavy sex scenes or violent fights that typify today's cinema offerings. Ladies In Lavender is old-fashioned in the best sense of the word. Dance's screenplay is as unshowy and unforced as the acting. He has the safety net of very good casting. He could hardly go wrong with Dames Dench and Smith in the leading roles of spinster sisters living in 1930s Cornwall. They give beautifully unfussy, but no less emotionallycharged, performances as the pair whose lives are disrupted after finding a young Polish man (Bruhl, from Goodbye Lenin) washed up on the beach below their house. They take him in, care for him and find the presence of a handsome young man in their home triggers off memories and thoughts of what they've missed in life. They also get jealous of the attention paid him by attractive young artist McElhone who helps the violin-playing Pole with his musical career. A strong supporting cast, including Warner and Jones, ensure even the smallest of roles are fleshed out. It would be nice - that word again - to think that older audiences will get out of their armchairs and make the effort to go to the Ladies in the cinema and not wait for it to come round on TV.
Bridget Jones: Edge Of Reason (15) HH Stars: Renee Zellwegger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant 107 mins AS someone who didn't rate the first Bridget Jones film as highly as others, I didn't have much hope for the sequel. And seeing the movie did nothing to make me think those low expectations had been exceeded.See the full content of this document
Extract
Cinema - Ladies Who Do
This isn't so much the new Bridget Jones picture as a retread of the first, only the jokes aren't as funny the second time around. Singleton Bridget (Zellwegger) opted for handsome Mark Darcy (Firth) over cad Daniel Cleaver (Grant) in the original but the path of true love ...
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