The love punch (Emma Thompson)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s ten years since we watched the 2013 film ‘The love punch’. Neither of us could recall anything about it, and we wanted something light to watch. So we decided on this film, noting that all four of the main cast were people we knew of. We’re not generally very aware of a lot of famous actors, so this was unusual.

Emma Thompson is wonderful as the middle-aged divorced Kate. We see her at a wedding, bumping into her ex-husband Richard (Pierce Brosnan). It’s clear that they still have things in common, but they can’t seem to exchange more than a couple of sentences without being unpleasant to each other. Emma Thompson has a gift of becoming the person she is playing - and I thoroughly enjoyed her role. 

Pierce Brosnan doesn’t seem to be quite as versatile; while the role of Richard is different from his best-known James Bond, there’s still a fair bit in common with the two. He looks and sounds like himself; not that it’s a problem, since his character fits very well with that of the businessman Richard. 

My House in Umbria (Maggie Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

It's about eight and a half years since we first watched ‘My House in Umbria’, and we had entirely forgotten what it was about. I barely glanced at the box as we put the DVD in to watch last night, and was delighted to hear - and then see - Maggie Smith as the main protagonist. She is playing the part of the successful novelist Emily Delahunte, who lives in a large house in Italy. She’s probably supposed to be in her sixties, or early seventies, and we meet her as she catches a train to Milan, rather at the last minute.

Emily is in a carriage with several other people, and as a writer she naturally glances at them, and wonders about their stories. There’s a young German couple, apparently in the first flushes of romance. There’s an elderly military man (Ronnie Barker) with his daughter, and an American married couple, clearly comfortable with each other, and their daughter Aimee (Emmy Clarke).  Emily speaks to Aimee, who is a little reserved, not helped by her mother telling her not to ask so many questions.

Then disaster strikes out of the blue in a shocking moment - and we next see Emily in hospital, with severe injuries. She recovers gradually, and learns that just three of the people from her carriage survived, one of them being Aimee. Aimee has stopped talking, after the trauma, and doesn’t appear to have any relatives so Emily decides to invite her, together with the other two survivors, to stay at her house in Umbria to convalesce, and to find somewhere to process their grief.

At this point we had remembered at least part of the story, and the locations, which are gorgeous. Emily is an excellent hostess, helped by her friend and colleague Quinty (Timothy Spall). The Major (Ronnie Barker), the young German (Benno Fürmann) and Aimee gradually become like a family, and when Aimee starts talking again - albeit with a lot of memory loss - they all rejoice.

Alongside the story of the growing friendship and healing is an investigation into why the attack happened, and also some flashbacks into Emily’s past, which was one of abuse and neglect. This has perhaps led her to be such a warm-hearted and encouraging person - but as there’s no resolution of the past, it felt a bit superfluous and unnecessary. And she’s shown increasingly as a heavy drinker, something, again, which seems out of character and not entirely relevant to the story.

But the acting is excellent. No surprise with Maggie Smith, but we were also very impressed with Ronnie Barker, who is best known for his stand-up comedy routines. He was entirely believable as the Major. In addition, the scenery is stunning, and the story, overall, encouraging and uplifting. There are even one or two moments of humour, in contrast to the main themes. We hadn’t remembered how it would end - there’s a poignant climax as the party begins to disintegrate after one of Emily’s relatives is found - but then there’s an entirely satisfying (if somewhat unlikely) concluding scene that leaves some hope for the future.

All in all, we liked it very much. The rating is 12, which I think is about right. I don’t recall any bad language, and the references that make it 12 rather than PG are so quickly done that they could easily be missed. Even the horrendous violent incident and the gory hospital scenes are sensitively done, mostly implying what happens rather than showing gratuitous detail.

However, since the main characters are of retirement age, and the issues covered are quite mature, I doubt if  this film would be of interest to anyone younger than about thirty.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Love Punch (Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson)

(Amazon UK link)

We were wandering round a supermarket in the UK and spotted this - along with several other DVDs - on offer, at less than £3 each. We had never heard of this particular film. But we know of and like the two main stars (Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson) and we both like the rom-com genre, on the whole.

Last night we watched it with our mid-twenties son. He also liked the sound of it based on the actors and the blurb on the back. We were all quite tired and wanted something fairly fluffy: a ‘feel-good’ story that didn’t require too much thought. ‘The Love Punch’ delivered on all counts.

The story is about a divorced couple. Richard (Pierce Brosnan) is a wealthy businessman on the point of retirement. He’s starting to feel his age, with various ailments getting worse. Moreover, despite being something of a womaniser, he seems to be losing his touch. There’s more than a nod to his previous role as James Bond in this story, but it’s not necessary to be a fan of 007 or even to have seen his movies.

His ex-wife Kate (Emma Thompson) has also grown older, and is suffering the first pangs of being an empty nester. Their geeky son is already at university, their daughter about to depart for her own studies. I could empathise quite strongly with her mixed feelings of pride and misery as she watches her daughter drive away. Their good friends and neighbours, Jerry and Penelope (Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie) try to encourage Kate to meet someone new. Although she’s not particularly keen, she is determined to make an effort.

Then disaster strikes Richard’s business, and he turns to his ex-wife. From this point the plot starts to become increasingly surreal - at times, very silly - with the kind of slapstick humour that doesn’t usually appeal to me at all. But somehow it works. The script is amusing, the timing perfect, and the little digs at James Bond (even I know he’s the one who generally organises car chases…) add to the enjoyment.

It’s not the greatest film I’ve ever seen, but it was undoubtedly entertaining and kept us interested from the start. Emma Thompson is particularly good. The ending is somewhat predictable but left us with a happy-ever-after feeling that perhaps life isn’t as bad as it’s often portrayed.

I thought that the rating of 12 (PG-13 in the US) was about right. There was some minor bad language, and one or two instances of ‘strong’ language which weren’t too obvious. There were hints of bedroom scenes but nothing explicit, and some brief implied nudity that was oddly amusing.

I think one has to be in the right mood for this kind of film. Don’t expect anything thought-provoking or deep, and accept the silliness for an attempt to entertain.

There are no real extras on the DVD. There are some interviews with the main cast but they were, frankly, rather dull and we gave up watching them after a few minutes.

Recommended if you want something light-hearted and don’t mind silliness and low-key slapstick.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews

From Time to Time (Alex Etel, Maggie Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

The main character in this film is Tolly, a thirteen-year-old boy, played by Alex Etel. The story is set in 1944, at the end of World War II. Tolly’s father is ‘missing in action’, so his mother has gone to London to see if she can find out more information. The only place she can think of sending Tolly for the school holidays is to his grandmother, Mrs GreenKnowe (Maggie Smith).

Unfortunately there has been a rift in the family, so Tolly is a stranger both to his Granny, and to the house.

Mrs Greenknowe starts telling Tolly about previous inhabitants of the house. This is partly prompted by his interest in some of the portraits and other artefacts he spots. Her housekeeper and gardener also tell him snippets of history, about family members and also about a terrible fire that burned down an entire wing.

Then Tolly starts to see ghosts. At first terrified, he is reassured by his grandmother’s calm acknowledgement that the spirits of the former family members do appear - and then finds himself appearing to them. As he asks more questions, he is taken more often into the past ,where he gets caught up in racism, intolerance, and the unpleasantness of one of his ancestors as a young man.

This is actually a film for older children, an adaptation of a book called ‘The Chimneys of Green Knowe’. It is one of a series of books by Lucy M Boston based in the middle of the 20th century, featuring an old house with both current and past inhabitants.

I thought the film was cleverly done. With no preconceptions, and not having read the books, I was able to follow the story easily enough - which is not always a given for me. Tolly is a likeable boy, at first rather awkward and defensive, knowing that his grandmother did not approve of his parents’ marriage. Maggie Smith, of course, is brilliant. Gradually Tolly and his grandmother learn to respect and even love each other, and there are some positive themes about family ties and loyalty that shine through.

We watched this with an adult friend, and found it quite tense in places, moving in others. There are some moments of light humour too, particularly in the initial interactions between Tolly and his grandmother. Their slow acceptance of each other is done very well, as is the gradual unfolding of two stories alongside each other, both present and past.

There are, of course, plot holes from the time travel point of view. It would be difficult to avoid them. One such ‘problem’ is raised directly by Tolly, and cleverly answered by his grandmother in the sense of having to accept that something apparently illogical happened.  The ending of the film is perhaps a bit abrupt, and yet it works well without leaving too many questions open.

Apparently the setting and much of the story deviates quite sharply from the book, which naturally annoys those who are purists about such things. But this is explained in the one and only ‘Extra’ - a conversation with Julian Fellowes, who directed the film. He talks about wanting to make it for many years, and the way he had to make changes. These were based on the limitations of the media, and the need for images and drama that make a movie always somewhat different from a book.

All in all, we thought it well done and worth watching. The rating is PG in both the US and UK, which seems about right; some of the action is quite tense and even a little scary, and I doubt if it would be of much interest to anyone under the age of about ten or eleven.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

My House in Umbria (Maggie Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

From time to time, Amazon recommends various films to me based on others I have rated. I can only assume that it suggested 'My House in Umbria' because I have liked other films featuring Dame Maggie Smith. It sounded like an interesting film so I put it on my wishlist, and was given it for Christmas.

Maggie Smith is, indeed, brilliant as the romantic novelist Emily Delahunty. It's only gradually that we learn that she has a very sordid past; I'm not sure that it really adds anything to the plot, other than to show the contrast with her current wealthy and altruistic lifestyle.

On her way to Rome by train, a terrorist bomb explodes, killing four passengers, injuring others - including Emily - and orphaning a child.

I assume this film, which was originally made for TV, is set in about the 1950s, based on the cars, old-fashioned record players and general props. It moves at that kind of pace, and is primarily a character-based story: As the survivors recover, Emily invites them - including the orphaned Aimee - to stay at her house in Umbria. There they all begin to find some measure of healing... at least, until Aimee's rather cold uncle arrives.

Gorgeous scenery, and wonderful acting by Dame Maggie, who must have been about 70 when this was made in 2003, but could easily pass for 60. I was also very impressed with Ronnie Barker, playing an elderly general who lost his daughter in the explosion. It's a far cry from his usual humorous roles. Emmy Clark as Aimee is a bit flat, but then her character is clearly suffering from what we would now call post-traumatic stress disorder. She and Emily strike up an odd friendship, based perhaps on their mutual neediness.

There are one or two moments of humour amidst the slightly dark plot, and a wonderful inspector (Giancarlo Giannini) who is determined to get to the bottom of the explosion. I wasn't sure that I entirely understood the political ramifications, but it didn't much matter.

I suppose my only slight niggle is that Emily's character becomes rather strange towards the end, forcing confidences and drinking too heavily - something that seems unconnected to her earlier character.

Still, the story flows well, and we found ourselves caught up entirely with the diverse people as they gradually blended into a little family. The ending, if a little unlikely, is very satisfying - we liked the film very much.

'My House in Umbria' is rated 12 in the UK, which seems about right to me, given the flashbacks of past abuse in Emily's life. I doubt if it would be of much interest to anyone under the age of about 14 or 15 anyway.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews