They say you can’t teach an old Strawdog new tricks, but Academy Winning actor and professional mumbler Dustin Hoffman is here to prove them wrong. Already over his three score and ten, the 71-year old actor will now be trying his hand at directing for the first time, with elderly music film Quartet. Not to be confused with that other film about old musicians, A Late Quartet.
How do you tell them apart? Well this one has Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall in it!
Lifelong friends Wilf and Reggie, together with former colleague Cissy, are residents of Beecham House, a home for retired opera singers. Every year on Giuseppe Verdi’s birthday, the residents unite to give a concert to raise funds for their home. But when Jean Horton, a former grande dame of the opera fallen on hard times, also Reggie’s ex-wife and the fourth and most celebrated member of their former quartet, moves into the home to everyone’s surprise, the plans for this year’s concert start to unravel.
As old grudges threaten to undermine past glories and theatrical temperaments play havoc with the rehearsal schedule, it becomes apparent that having four of the finest singers in English operatic history under one roof offers no guarantee that the show will go on.
The film is based on the play by Sir Ronald Harwood, and while it appears to be as predictable a comedy as you can get, it certainly has a lot of that talented old people charm that should surely lure quite a number of older audience members into cinema seats.
Last Updated: October 31, 2012
Andre116
October 31, 2012 at 13:13
So…on an completely unrelated subject. When go into themovies.co.za, it does not want to load the page. I only seem to connect to it from lazygamer. Anybody else have that problem?