Death comes to Pemberley (TV Series)

(Amazon UK link)

I had not heard of ‘Death Comes to Pemberley’, but my son and his wife watched the mini series and read the book, and loved them so much that they gave the DVDs (and the book) to me for Christmas. We decided to watch the DVDs over three weeks - it’s three hour-long episodes - and while I was a tad dubious at first at the thought of a sequel to ‘Pride and Prejudice’, we both enjoyed it very much.

The series was made by the BBC who always seem to be good with period dramas. As such, the settings and costumes seemed entirely authentic. The dialogue wasn’t really that of Austen - the book on which this is based was written by PD James - but it didn’t much matter. And while the storyline is rather far removed from ‘Pride and Prejudice’, or anything else Jane Austen wrote, it has a ring of authenticity.

The story begins with Darcy and Lizzie, now married for ten years or so, planning a huge ball. The domestic staff are very busy and Lizzie clearly on good terms with them, as well as being an efficient manager. However my only real problem with the films is that Lizzie - Anna Maxwell Martin - seemed too old. I gather the actress is around the same age as Matthew Rhys who played Darcy, while she should have been rather younger, but her manner and assurance didn’t feel like those of Elizabeth Bennet; yet her clothes were dreary; it looked as though she either never changed, or had several identical plain dresses.

However it’s a minor complaint, and I soon got used to this very different portrayal of a main character. Her younger sister Lydia, I thought, was brilliantly cast (Jenna Coleman) and has exactly the right amount of frivolousness and self-centredness. She is possibly the best Lydia I have seen. The Bennet parents are believable too, and the local magistrate (Trevor Eve) is excellent in his role. Best of all, in my view, is a cameo appearance of the supercilious Lady Catherine, who was perfectly portrayed by Penelope Keith.

Back to the gist of the story: Lydia’s husband Wickham (Matthew Goode) is determined to take his wife to the ball even though they are pointedly not invited. Events in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ made it impossible for the Bennets to receive Wickham although Lizzie tries to remain in contact with her sister. They’re driving through the estate when Wickham’s friend Denny suddenly rushes out of the coach. This leads to the tragedy which has been foreseen in the earlier scenes, and which was expected, given the title.

Wickham is suspected of violence, and most of the rest of the story involves the investigations, although there are other side stories which turn out to be more significant than I realised at first.

I found the ending quite tense, and the conclusion perhaps a tad too neat and tidy, but it all works well even if ardent Jane Austen fans disapprove of it.

The rating is 12, possibly due to the violence, or the implications of immorality;  or possibly due to a fairly tame scene of intimacy towards the end of the book. Sadly there are no ‘extras’.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

My Big Fat Greek Wedding II (Nia Vardalos)

(Amazon UK link)

We decided we had seen enough Christmas films this month, and wanted something light-weight to see. ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding II’ seemed to fit the bill. We saw it in April 2017, which is only three and a half years ago, but since we re-watched the original ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ earlier this year, we thought it would be a good idea to see the sequel before we had forgotten all the characters.

The story takes place a decade or so after the end of the original - and the ending was just a cameo about eight years after the main film. The actors, almost all the same ones from the first film, look around the right age, which makes sense as this film came out fourteen years after the original. 

Toula (Nia Vardalos) remains the star. Nia Vardalos was also the inspiration and writer, growing up, as she did, in a Greek-Canadian family. Toula is happily married to Ian (John Corbett) although they seem to have lost some of their early intimacy… and he finds her family a bit overwhelming at times.

The most important new actress is Elena Kampouris, who plays Toula and Ian’s seventeen-year-old daughter Paris. She is perfect in the role as a teenager who loves her extended family, but is very frustrated by their extreme involvement in her life, and their determination to marry her off to a nice Greek boy, so she can make nice Greek babies. She’s the only girl in her generation - all her aunts and uncles have produced boys, who are growing up just like their grandparents.

However the ‘wedding’ of this film isn’t related to Paris, although we’re probably supposed to think that it will be, in an echo of the first film. Part of the storyline involves her increasing bids for autonomy, as she thinks about college applications and a date for her high school prom. In fact the ‘wedding’ part feels almost like an afterthought - it involves a legal anomaly, and while there’s a lot of preparation, and the event itself, it doesn’t feel like the main focus of the film.

The cast all feel realistic, if somewhat caricatured at times; so much so that we’d forgotten that most of them are not Greek. We were reminded when we watched some of the extras including a documentary about the making of the film. They clearly all bonded so well in the first film that they were happy to work together again a decade and a half later.

I love the way that family life is seen as so important in Greek culture, even if exaggerated in its closeness. Marriages are expected to last, families are expected to support each other no matter what. The contrast of cultures is shown in the American desire for independence rather the opposite of the Greek inter-dependence; despite my own Western European background, I found myself feeling more and more drawn to the mutual supportiveness of Toula's extended family, even if she finds them frustrating at times.

There’s plenty of humour as the film cleverly manages to caricature both Greek and American culture and society - not in an unkind way, but as someone seeing both from the inside. Living in a Greek-speaking country as we do, we could appreciate a lot of the side comments and Greek language jokes that might go over the heads of some - but it’s a film that could be enjoyed by anyone.

The rating is 12 in the UK, PG-13 in the US, which surprised me as I would have expected PG in both. There are sexual references, but they’re quite mild; I don’t recall any ‘strong’ language or profanity, and there’s no violence or anything frightening. The most steamy scene involves a married couple in a car, disturbed before anything much happens. Not that it would be of much interest to children or younger teens anyway.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Nativity (Martin Freeman)

(Amazon UK link)

Having decided to watch only Christmas-related DVDs during December, our choice fell on ‘Nativity’ last night. We first saw this rather unseasonably in July 2013 and while we recalled the general outline of the story, we had entirely forgotten most of the details.

Martin Freeman is excellent as the primary school teacher Paul Maddens. We see a brief cameo of him in his former life as an actor, with his girlfriend Jennifer (Ashley Jensen) and friend Gordon (Jason Watkins). None of them is enjoying their roles as dancing elves.. So Paul and Gordon retrain as teachers, and Jennifer flies to the United States, as her dream is to become a director or producer.

The main story takes place a few years later, when Gordon is a rather snooty teacher at a private school, while Paul is at the local state Catholic school. He’s still heartbroken by Jennifer’s defection, but he’s a fairly good teacher, albeit rather uptight and rigid in his classroom persona. Then he’s given two unwelcome surprises by the school head, Mrs Bevan (Pam Ferris). She announces that Mr Maddens is going to produce the school Nativity play that year, and that he’s having a new classroom assistant.

Paul is horrified at the thought of trying to pull the unruly children into any kind of presentation, and even more appalled when he meets Mr Poppy (Marc Wooten) who is like an overgrown child: full of wild ideas, ready to join in the children’s games and encourage them to ignore their teacher. It turns out that he’s Mrs Bevan’s nephew, so he can’t be fired. And gradually he and Paul do develop a kind of wary friendship.

The bulk of the story sees the children gradually pull together, with some ideas from Mr Poppy and some from Mr Maddens, and some from the children themselves. This is alongside seeing Graham’s ultra-posh and well-disciplined class determined that their performance will be better than ever. And there’s also an unfortunate consequence of a lie told by Paul, when he gets angry with Graham’s boasting… a lie that magnifies out of all proportion, as children, parents and staff expect something that’s never going to happen.

Apparently this film was not really scripted - the director had ideas, but gave the cast a lot of freedom to come up with their own lines. Even more surprising, the children are not from a stage school - they’re random children from ordinary backgrounds who auditioned for the roles - and as a result come across as a real, likeable class.

There’s a lot of humour, some of it slapstick as the two schools clash in a snowball fight, and some of it more subtle. Martin Freeman’s expressions are superb, conveying his emotions, at times, without any need for words. Some of Mr Poppy’s ideas are also amusing in their oddness, and some of the dialogue is unexpectedly funny too.

There’s also an important message about the importance of truthfulness, and the way that a silly lie, told on the spur of the moment, can grow to such an extent that dozens - maybe hundreds - of people can get hurt. We loved the way that the real message of Christmas shines through the glitziness and silliness, and the final performance (unsurprisingly) is extremely well done.

There's a low-key romantic thread too, involving a highly unlikely meeting in Hollywood and another during the school performance. But it doesn't matter. It's a bit schmalzy, but means there's another subplot involving Paul moving from a Scrooge-like hatred of Christmas to embracing it whole-heartedly.

Some of the extras are worth seeing, particularly the ‘deleted’ scenes, one of which is possibly my favourite ever deleted scene, involving the school priest talking to the children about lying.

Not to be taken seriously, but definitely recommended for light-hearted family viewing at this time of year.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Family Stone

(Amazon UK link)

When I was searching online for some Christmas films, one of the recommended ones was ‘The Family Stone’. I knew we had that on our shelves; apparently we watched it in January 2014 after buying it from a UK charity shop. But neither of us had any recollection of the storyline. So we decided it would be a good one to watch last night.

The film takes place over the course of just three days in the run-up to Christmas, with a brief epilogue a year later. At the start of the film, we see adult offspring arriving at the family home. Diane Keaton is, as ever, wonderful as a slightly harassed but very affectionate mother figure (Sybil Stone). Sybil is happily married to Kelly (Craig T Nelson) and they have five very different children.

Everett (Dermot Mulroney) is the oldest and he’s dressed, at first, like a 1940s American film star, in a suit and tie, looking slightly out of place in his rather bohemian family. He is bringing his girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) to meet the family for Christmas. She is stressed and uptight, convinced everyone will hate her. She lacks any kind of intuition, tact or empathy, it appears, and continually makes unhelpful comments. It doesn’t help that one of Everett’s sisters, Amy (Rachel McAdams) met Meredith previously, and they did not hit it off at all.

Everett has another sister, Susanna (Elizabeth Reaser), who is there with her daughter Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin) who must be about eight. Elizabeth is as lacking in tact as Meredith but in rather different ways. Their other brothers are Ben (Luke Wilson) who arrives late, dressed very casually, and makes caustic comments, and Thad (Tyrone Giordano), who is both deaf and gay, who comes with his partner Patrick (Brian White). These characters interact in ways that adult siblings might, with a deep underlying bond of affection but also a great deal of teasing.

Several subplots blend together realistically as we learn more about each of the family members and the dynamics between them. Meredith continues to make herself increasingly disliked, calling her sister in desperation and moving to a local hotel to stay with her. But the sister, Julie (Clare Danes) turns out to be a likeable, attractive person and Everett finds himself liking her increasingly…

There’s not a whole lot of plot as this is a character-based romantic comedy with the romantic element being fairly low-key, and rather muddled at times. But there are some excellent comic moments; the expressions on Kelly’s face are superb, and there’s a brilliantly choreographed (and very messy) scene towards the end which made us laugh - not with schadenfreude, but with the clever way in which one bump or messy surface leads to neatly to a further disaster.

We loved the way that the middle aged parents are so relaxed, on the whole. They accept their offspring’s love lives and friends and welcome them all, with plenty of food and places to sit, and a generally untidy but friendly appearance to the house. So their feeling that Meredith is the wrong person for Everett is all the more telling. We also loved the way that sign language is part of the way the family communicate with each other - something that would happen naturally when one of them is deaf.

There’s also a very sad thread intertwining; it would be a spoiler to say what it is (and actually we don’t know many details), meaning that the epilogue scene, a year later, is bittersweet. It’s delightful - with new members of the family, and their determination to carry on - and also very poignant.

We thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Family Stone’ and also liked seeing some of the ‘extras’ including a few deleted scenes, some; bloopers - mostly when Meredith’s character dissolves into laughter as she’s about to utter one of her tactless comments - as well as some characters discussing their roles, and the film in general.

Rated 12, probably due to several references to intimacy although there’s nothing explicit. Only minor bad language, and minor violence - one character slaps another a few times - but the film is unlikely to be of interest to younger children anyway.

Highly recommended.

You can find other reviews and more information about this film, including a short trailer, at the IMDb site: The Family Stone.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Scrooged (Bill Murray)

(Amazon UK link)

There are some DVDs on our shelves which we don’t recall buying or acquiring in any other way. Perhaps ‘Scrooged’ was a gift at some point; perhaps we found it on a second-hand stall. We knew it was - inevitably - a modern-day take on ‘A Christmas Carol’, but had not seen it for at least fourteen years. However it seemed like a suitable film to watch on the first Tuesday of Advent.

As we started watching, I wondered if we were seeing a trailer for another film at first - but it turned out that the first scene is set in a TV studio. The studio boss, Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is being shown trailers for his television’s live Christmas production of ‘A Christmas Carol’. He is very scathing about this, and proposes his own trailer, full of guns and violence, with no relevance at all to the production - but, he is convinced, certain to draw in viewers.

Frank is a bad-tempered person who thinks nothing of working his employees until all hours, ignoring their needs. He even fires someone for disagreeing with him, cancelling his Christmas bonus. He is a typecast modern-day Scrooge. He has a brother who is exaggeratedly fluffy and kind, always inviting Frank for Christmas Day, but he cares nothing for him - telling his secretary to send him (and many other acquaintances) towels for Christmas.

The film follows the standard ‘Christmas Carol’ outline: Frank is confronted by the zombie-like body of someone who died a few years ago, and is warned that he will see the Ghost of the Christmas Past the following day. He thinks he’s had a nightmare but is disturbed enough that he calls a girl called Claire (Karen Allen) whom - he says - he hasn’t spoken to for fifteen years.

The Ghost (David Johansen), when revealed, is quite a surprise (to watchers as well as to Frank). He’s taken to scenes of his childhood, with neglectful parents, and some happier scenes when he and Claire met and got together. He also sees why they parted, and that his priorities were always work and money rather than people.

I didn’t much like the Ghost of the Christmas Present (Carol Kane) who appears as a rather violent fairy, showing Frank scenes of other people including his secretary Grace (Alfre Woodard) and her young son Calvin (Nicholas Philips) who is unable to speak due to a trauma some years earlier.

There are various side-stories through the film, making it more interesting than a straightforward equivalent to the Dickens classic. We see Grace and her family regularly; there are also scenes with Clare, who now works in a homeless shelter. Clearly she and Frank are still attached, but he’s still too materialistic…

A lot of the film is fast-paced exaggerated action, which contrasts well with the more poignant human interest stories. It was produced in 1988, when there was no CGI; the various ghosts and other special effects were very well done. Bill Murray is good, acting both himself as he is, and as he was when he was rather younger, and - as with most of the cast - is caricatured rather than being a particularly believable character. I think my favourite of all the cast was the young Calvin, who had only a minor role (albeit the equivalent of ‘’Tiny Tim’ in ‘A Christmas Carol). But Nicholas Phillips’ acting ability shone through though he probably wasn’t more than about eight years old at the time.

It wasn’t the greatest of films, though it was well done and a good one to start the Christmas season. The rating was originally PG but updated to 12 in 2012, which I think is probably better. There’s not a lot of bad language, and no scenes of intimacy, although there’s a brief image of ‘Kama Sutra’ and women in scantily clad clothing. However there’s a surprising amount violence; some of it clearly meant to be slapstick, but some scenes could be disturbing to a sensitive child.

Worth seeing for a different take on the Dickens classic, but I wouldn’t count ‘Scrooged’ as a favourite film.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Message in a Bottle (Robin Wright)

(Amazon UK link)

I was browsing our local thrift store when I spotted a couple of DVDs which I hadn’t seen, and which looked interesting. One of them was the 1999 film  ‘Message in a Bottle’. As the film was on special offer I had to agree that I wouldn’t complain if it was faulty, and paid my 50 cents. We decided to watch it last night - and what an amazing film it turned out to be!

Theresa (Robin Wright) is the main protagonist. She works as a researcher for a newspaper in Chicago, and has a young son though she’s divorced and his father has remarried. I’m not quite sure of the point of the sections involving the son, as they’re not really relevant to the story other than, perhaps, establishing Theresa’s character and situation as a single mother.

Out for a run along the beach, she comes across a bottle with a message inside. It’s a beautifully written love letter, to someone who has left them, signed just “G”. Theresa is moved by this, and also intrigued, and she takes it in to work to show some of her colleagues. One of them decides to print it, although she did not want to, and this leads to a huge amount of correspondence, including someone mentioning another letter written in the same style.

Theresa’s colleagues become more and more interested and involved and eventually track down the person who must be the author of the letters, and Theresa persuades her boss to allow her to fly out to meet him. She finds herself in a boating village, and gets to know Garrett (Kevin Costner), the person who wrote the letters. She learned that his wife Catherine died a year earlier, and that he’s still grieving. He’s also in major conflict with her relatives, who blame him and want some of her paintings…

It’s a beautifully made story, with excellent casting. The two main characters have excellent chemistry, and there’s ongoing tension as Theresa keeps putting off telling Garrett what originally brought her to his village and it’s inevitable that he will find out at some point. But possibly my favourite character is Garrett’s father Dodge (Paul Newman) who is frustrated with his son, but also utterly committed to him - and full of wisdom. There is a very poignant scene between the two.

It’s not all poignant, however. There are some light-hearted scenes in the newspaper offices, which made us smile. And there are some delightful sequences as Garrett and Theresa realise how much they like each other. I had hopes that it would end happily, but although some issues are solved it was basically a very sad movie, albeit with a hint of encouragement at the end. I understand it was based on a book of the same title by Nicholas Sparks, but the film was so good I don't think I necessarily want to read the book - and that's unusual for me.

We were absolutely gripped by this film, which was thought-provoking, moving, and extremely well-made. The rating is 12 which I feel is right - there’s quite a long scene of intimacy, but it’s implied rather than explicit, and there’s also a very tense, difficult scene to watch in a storm. I don’t think the storyline would appeal to anyone younger than about fourteen or fifteen anyway.

But for adults and older teens who don’t mind a film with a bittersweet ending, I would recommend this very highly. 

The only extras on this DVD were some deleted or extended scenes, which were interesting to watch. But we agreed that the film was perfect as it was, and these extra scenes would not have added anything.

You can see other reviews, more information and a short trailer at the IMDb site here: Message in a Bottle. 

Review copyright 2021 Sue's DVD Reviews

Quartet (Maggie Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

We usually watch a film on DVD about once a week, and as we don’t have any new ones at present, we are currently re-watching films we haven’t seen for six or seven years (or more). We saw the film ‘Quartet’ in 2013, and I had entirely forgotten the storyline, so it was a good choice for yesterday evening’s viewing. 

We seem to be seeing a lot of films with elderly actors. It only occurred to me yesterday that there are so many of them because as actors grow older they don’t necessarily want to retire, but to continue working.

This film features a care home for retired musicians. As we learned in one of the extras, most of the minor characters in the home are actually musicians, not actors. Dustin Hoffman directed, and wanted them to be themselves, not trying to play parts.

Having said that, the four members of the quartet which gives its name to the film are well-known actors: Maggie Smith as Jean is really the main character, although she’s not yet at the care home at the start of the film. Tom Courtenay is Reggie, quite an academic and an expert on opera who gives lectures to teenagers on music appreciation. Billy Connolly as Wilf is the third member of the quartet, and Pauline Collins as Cissy is the fourth. Each of them is very different: Wilf is outspoken, full of innuendoes and humour; Cissy is clearly approaching some form of dementia that comes and goes.

Two other important people in the film are Cedric (Michael Gambon) who likes to take credit for organising everything that goes on, and Dr Cogan (Sheridan Smith) who runs the home as well as being the medical advisor. And they’re all wonderful - the pace is good, the music excellent and while there’s not a whole lot of story, there was definitely enough to keep my attention focussed.

There’s humour, mostly from Wilf who likes to flirt with all the women, particularly the doctor, but also in the timing and interactions of others of the cast, particularly an elderly duo, one of whom (Trevor Peacock) I recognised from ‘The Vicar of Dibley’. There are also some quite moving sections.; When Jean arrives at the home, she’s surrounded by admirers; she was once quite a star, although she insists she no longer sings. But Reggie is very upset that she’s there, and it quickly becomes clear that they were once married, although it didn’t last. The way they gradually get to know each other in their old age is beautifully done.

Most of the story, such as it is, features the lead-up to the annual fund-raising gala concert, and attempts to persuade Jean to sing. It all feels quite believable, and I felt quite engrossed - though even as I watched, I didn’t recall much of what happened. Possibly because there isn’t all that much plot.

The rating is 12 (PG-13 in the US) which seems fair. There’s no nudity or anything explicit, but a lot of innuendoes, and a few instances of ‘strong’ language. There’s no violence, but there are some very poignant scenes involving Cissy, which could potentially be disturbing. I can’t imagine that a film about people in their seventies and eighties would appeal to anyone below the age of about fifteen anyway.

We both enjoyed the film very much, and watched some of the extras: behind the scenes commentaries, and some outtakes. There are also some deleted scenes although we didn’t see them all.

You can find other reviews, more information and a brief trailer at the IMDb site: Quartet.

Review copyright 2021 Sue's DVD Reviews