Friday, November 25, 2005

PG

No rating available

Comedy, Drama

Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend, Anna Massey, Zoe Tapper, Georgina Hale, Millicent Martin, Marcia Warren, Robert Lang, Michael Culkin, Clare Higgins, Lorcan O'Toole

Ruth Sacks

Dan Ireland

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005)

Dan Ireland's latest film is the comedy drama, "Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont", based on the best selling novel of the same name, by the late, celebrated English author, Elizabeth Taylor.

The story centers around an elegant elderly lady (Mrs. Palfrey) who, after being recently widowed, moves from Scotland to London to be near to her 26 year old grandson, Desmond. When Desmond fails to return any of her several phone calls, or visit her at the resident hotel she is staying (The Claremont), fate brings her together with a young writer, Ludovic Meyer, after she has an accident outside his basement flat.

Eventually, Ludo ends up helping Mrs. Palfrey by playing a charade - pretending to be her grandson, so that the other off-beat elderly residents of the hotel believe that she hasn't been lying, and that she really does have a grandson.

The two newly found friends discover they have a lot more in common with each other then they do with other people their own age.

Ludo inadvertently leads Mrs. Palfrey through her past; Mrs Palfrey inadvertently leads Ludo to his future. The young writer finally finds the story he has been looking for all his young life - and Mrs Palfrey finds the 'grandson' she never knew she had. Thus begins a deep-rooted friendship that is far reaching, and everlasting.

Along the way, a few problems arise when her real grandson shows up at the hotel.