Film Review: Quartet

Film: Quartet   Director: Dustin Hoffman

Cast: Bill Connolly,Pauline Colins,Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Michael Garbon

Rated: PG-13   Distributor: The Weinstein Company  Running Time: 97 Min.

Dustin Hoffman finally makes his directorial debut with the gentle and elegant comedy-drama Quartet and the film isn’t what’d you except from the veteran actor. The idea of Hoffman being sedate and upstanding is not the way most people see The Rain Man actor but being that the new Director is now 75, perhaps his life is more in this frame of mine. Quartet ends up a light British film more in vein of Masterpiece Theatre than Gosford Park but altogether its an audience-pleasing ensemble charmer which never patronizes the elderly. If you missed the feisty cinema piece of 2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold’s Hotel or you’re dreading the uber-heavy Oscar nom’ed Amour, Quartet will fill your cuddly, geriatric-centralized character-driven film needs just fine.

The plot, such as it is: Beacham House is a care home for retired musicians and vocalists – so of course the surrounding plot is going to be one of a lets-put-on-a-show, but that’s where the story stops at being traditional. Wilf, Cissy and Reggie have been charged with putting on a scene from Verdi’s Rigoletto for part of annual gala benefit for their home. The three singers used to perform this very piece years ago, together as a cast but the conflict is they must convince Jean, a new resident of the home to rejoin their group to fill out the quartet. The only issue, Jean and Reggie are in emotional turmoil as they are divorced from each other years before.

As a Director, Hoffman has created a well-crafted predicable film for a cast that’s about as good as it gets – when it comes to actors of a certain age. It is clear to see that Hoffman has taken his paws off trying to curtail his actor into what he wants the characters to be and allowed his cast to take control of the reins. The film clearly shows that Hoffman is an Actors’ Director and Quartet is all the better for it. The entire cast, which includes cameos from both Classical Music and Opera stars such as Dame Gwyneth Jones are never given screen time for pat-on-the-back sake; all of the actors used in the film play nicely to their characters and come off as believable human beings rather than elder states-people who were being cajoled to be in a movie which needed a lot of elderly, past-their-prime artists because…well… the script called for it. Even when scenes don’t completely work 100%, there is still an air of accuracy and believability from the least qualified of the actors on screen. The best of parts of the cast do remain with the quartet.

Bill Connolly’s plays his randy old dog, Wilf, very well. The sweet-talking, “bum pincher” & public urinator will make the audience wonder if Wilf knows exactly what he’s doing or if his lack of social decorum really is to be blamed on his stroke. Pauline Colins will treat audiences in her memory-battling, sweeter-than-pie Cecilly. Maggie Smith dominates as the World-Class soprano, with a clenched personage and a bad hip – Smith’s Jean Horton is no Miss Brodie this time around but is as inducing to watch. And Finally, Tom Courtenay as the gentle-souled Reginald has managed to give such a lovely and subtle performance.

A script by Oscar-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), based on his 1999 play, is not only sentimentally-romantic but is also a script with touching humanity and sense of play where the audience stays attentive to each scene; the dialogue exchanges between residents regarding aging both amuse and touch the heart. Additionally, the script is sharp and more astute than your average aged picture, but the story lacks strong, complete emotional depth and therefore, simply doesn’t move conflicts between characters or the story as a whole. Case in point is a the largest conflict between the two central character is given a large built-up but once confronted, is quickly forgotten and thrown away as we are given a flimsy back story which explains the breakup of the characters but serves no really purpose than to give a exposition way too-late in the film.  Additionally, there are a few side plot-points which do re-appear from time to time on screen (like the immediacy of saving the beloved Beacham House from foreclosure) that the film as a whole never fully focuses on and is then resolved far-too-easily.

 So should Quartet get a better grade? Unfortunately not. While the film is enjoyable to watch – the characters are vital and interesting, the dialogue is witty and the cast is of fine actors  – had they had been given more to do. What still remains is thatQuartet’s problematic ares aren’t where the actor’s or script fall short but where Hoffman seems to stop focusing on the aestic areas of the film. Scenes have been established in a very simplistic style of long tracking shots and simple montages but with nothing more behind them. For a film which is so character driven, the camera and light lacks emotional depth of what is really going on with its characters, and being used as a more conventional third-party. While the film is watchable and the performances are fun, Quartet never really feels that it meets a full on movement but is predicable. That this film was directed by a 75-year-old in his very first effort as a filmmaker, his name being that of Hoffman, makes it even more charming in a “isn’t that cute” sort of way, instead of “that’s something to think about” way will be the first and (most likely) last thought most people will have about this film and that’s a pity. Still, Quartet does remains a watchable delight, even if its something which should be reserved for your TV on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

Fresh Roasted Film Grade: C

– Matt Miles, Producer of Fresh Roasted Films

Other Notable Performances:

Michael Garbon’s silk-robe and fez-wearing retired Theatre Director turned resident Beacham House Director, Cedric. Garbom pushes all the right buttons as he clomps around the house spraying his verbal abuse on Beacham residents; the actor’s portrayal of the pompous Oscar Wilde-evoking perfectionist livens up every scene he appears in.