Every plot development in this movie, a meditation on life, death, love, poetic inspiration, and family ties, is hackneyed and accordingly totally predictable, but it satisfies just the same. The secret, I think, is the beauty which the cinematographer has wrung out of London, a preposterously gorgeous "retirement hotel," and the faces of the lead and character actors; the civility, respect for diversity, and stoicism inherent in the dialog; and the complete absence of anything like a laugh track to the comedy.
Mrs. Palfrey, a London retiree recently widowed (played by Joan Plowright), befriends a good looking, slightly offbeat young man (played by Rupert Friend) who writes. A sensitive chap, he honors her friendship with the respect an older lady deserves. She guides him like the grandson she unfortunately has always had. He meets a girl. She lets him go.
Enjoy it.
Mrs. Palfrey, a London retiree recently widowed (played by Joan Plowright), befriends a good looking, slightly offbeat young man (played by Rupert Friend) who writes. A sensitive chap, he honors her friendship with the respect an older lady deserves. She guides him like the grandson she unfortunately has always had. He meets a girl. She lets him go.
Enjoy it.