Is Anybody There 2008

      This film is set in 1980's seaside England and it is the story of Edward.  He is an unusual ten-year-old boy growing up in a retirement home run by his parents.  His mother struggles to keep the family business afloat and his father copes with the onset of a mid-life crisis.  Edward is busy tape-recording the elderly residents to try and discover what happens when they die?  He is increasingly obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife.  This is probably due to the fact that Edward's has a rather lonely existence.  Things start to change when he meets Clarence.  He is the latest recruit to the home and he is a retired magician with a liberating streak of anarchy.  This movie tells the story of this odd couple, a boy and an old man.  They are facing life together with Edward learning to live in the moment and Clarence coming to terms with the past.

     Do we need another movie about a relationship between a crotchety old person and a troubled young person?  It is a story based on a used many times before plot!!  It spends a LOT of its runtime struggling to justify that it exists?  It almost accomplishes its goal because of a quality cast anchored by Bill Milner.  He is the scrappy kid from another film, Son Of Rambow.  But the script is shakier then the elderly performers.  By the third act, it lets viewers down completely!!  But, it does have some redeeming value!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
          

94 min, Drama directed by John Crowley and written by Peter Harness with Michael Caine, Bill Milner, Ann-Marie Duff, Ralph Riach, Linzey Cocker, Elizabeth Spriggs, Leslie Phillips, Sylvia Syms, Rosemary Harris, David Morrissey.

Note:  Imdb 6.7* out of 10* with 4,680 reviews,Roger Ebert 2 1/2*, Rotten Tomatoes 65% with 117 critic reviews, 55% with 5,000+ audience scores, The Guardian Peter Bradshaw 3* out of 5*, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*, Metacritic 54 out of 100 with 19 critic reviews 7.7 out of 10 with 11 user scores, eyeforfilm.co.uk 4* out of 5* Robyn Jankel, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 267 reviews.

Special Note:  Leslie Phillips in the role of Reg, spoke out against this movie after it was released.  He said it had been completely changed?  It was supposed to be the story he and the other elderly actors were making and about an old people's home.  Instead, it is about the relationship between Sir Michael Caine and Edward.  This is the last movie of Elizabeth Spriggs in the role of Prudence.  She died after filming at the time of post-production.  Producer David Heyman was inside the Body Bag being taken down the Stairlift at the start of the film.  After seeing a photo of Lily in Clarence's van, Edward tells Clarence that "She looks like Dame Edna”.  This is a reference to Dame Edna Everage, she is a character created by Berry Humphries.  She is the alter ego of Australian comedian, actor, satirist, artist and author Humphries. 

Mistakes:  Some people think the father's mustache at the party is a continuity error because he shaved it off that morning.  But, it is a fancy dress party and the father is clearly wearing a fake mustache to go with his costume.