'Ladies in Lavender': Classy company
by Hap Erstein
As lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II knew perfectly well, there is nothing like a dame. And if one is good, two are better. That was surely what first-time director Charles Dance was banking on with his slight, but charming film Ladies in Lavender, which would have been a long 103 minutes without the services of Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. They play unmarried sisters, living out their lives in coastal Cornwall in the southwest corner of England, puttering in their garden and tinkering with the wireless radio. After awhile, the semblance of a plot kicks in.
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On the eve of World War II, two sisters (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith) have their peaceable Cornwall existence disrupted when they take a young Polish violinist into their care.
Roadside Attractions
'Ladies in Lavender'
Director: Charles Dance
Starring: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Natascha McElhone, Daniel Bruhl, Miriam Margolyes, Freddie Jones
Run time: 103 minutes
Release date: April 8, 2005
Rating: PG-13 for brief language.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"A fascinating and involving chamber piece for two superb actresses. Theirs is a duet of nuance and inflection, raised eyebrows and trembly lips."
The Palm Beach Post: B
"All of this could easily have been a Masterpiece Theatre episode, except for Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, who invest their signature performance savvy in Ladies in Lavender as if it were Shakespeare."
Dayton Daily News: B
"Almost without words, Dench is remarkably expressive as a woman confronted by a void she thought had been stored away long ago."
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