I like Kevin Kline. He can do drama and comedy excellently in equal measure. Here he is paired against Dame Maggie Smith who is more than a match for him. Kline is Mathias, a man who has had a rough go of it, but inherited an apartment in Paris. Looking to sell, he is thwarted by a law that allows the resident of the apartment, in this case Smith’s Mathilde, to stay until their death. Add to that the fact she gets to collect a fee, well, it’s frustrating and confusing to the American who simply needs to come up with some money. Toss into the mix Kristen Scott Thomas, Mathilde’s daughter Chloe, who may or may not be giving Mathias a lesson in the building’s history as well as preserving history, and along the way tossing a bit of a wrinkle in his plan to sell the apartment.
My Old Lady is a funny drama, a character piece about three people and how they are connected. I liked how it is about adults who don’t necessarily have their lives ahead of them, who have made mistakes, have regrets, and have come to peace for the most part with the skeletons in their closet, or at least the ones they know about. Not quite halfway through the film there’s a secret revealed, and while it’s obvious, almost expected, the script and actors convey it believably. “How is it at my age I can still be shocked?”
The biggest problem I have with the film is its lighting. There are a lot of darkened interiors. The “natural” lighting isn’t so great. Other than that My Old Lady is a well done film. The Parisian backdrop is well used without being overbearing and obvious – no “Look, it’s Paris” shots of the Eiffel Tower, rather simple street scenes.
My Old Lady is well worth watching for those who want a grown up story about grown ups. Well acted and if a little predictable at least it is smart enough about it to not be dumb.