Quartet
Directed by Dustin Hoffman
The Weinstein Company
The British dramedy Quartet is Dustin Hoffman’s smooth transition from the spotlight to the director’s chair. The screenplay, an adaptation of Ronald Harwood’s play of the same name, offers a light-hearted and theatrical glimpse into the life-after-life of retirement living. Beecham House is a publicly-funded, elegant Victorian mansion hidden away in an apparently deserted English countryside town and staffed by some of the most compassionately one-dimensional characters to ever grace the big screen. Believable enough, right? But here’s where Harwood lost me—its residents are solely retired theatre performers. And they all get along. Well, at least until the human embodiment of narcissism, Jean Horton (Maggie Smith) arrives. As it turns out, she’s got quite a bit of history with the tenants of Beecham. Reggie (Tom Courtenay), Wilf (Billy Connolly), Cissy (Pauline Collins), and Jean make four, and together they’ve sung many masterful renditions of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”
In the usual exaggerated manner, there is suddenly an issue with the funding of Beecham and it can only be solved with a performance from the infamous quartet at the upcoming benefit gala commemorating Verdi’s birthday. Under strict direction from the eccentric Cedric (Michael Gambon), the quartet saves the show and the home. What Quartet lacks in plot depth, it makes up for with a perfectly charming cast. While the age of the accredited actors averages at 73, Hoffman seems dedicated to reminding the viewer that just because they’re decrepit, delusional, and saggy, it doesn’t mean that they’re not horny.
For the average Carleton student, this movie is a hit-or-miss. But keep Quartet in mind when you’re fulfilling your obligatory grand-kid duties this spring, because a comedy about the opera will be the ultimate time sink for intergenerational bonding. And who knows? Maybe if you’re able to get past the creepy idea that you’re actually watching a weird late-night VH1 special of Where Are They Now?: Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, you might also enjoy Quartet.
