My Old Lady (film)
| My Old Lady | |
|---|---|
 US theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Israel Horovitz |
| Produced by |
Rachael Horovitz Gary Foster Nitsa Benchetrit David C. Barrot co-producer David Atrakchi Gael Cabouat Boris Mendza |
| Written by | Israel Horovitz |
| Starring |
Maggie Smith Kevin Kline Kristin Scott Thomas Dominique Pinon |
| Music by | Mark Orton |
| Cinematography | Michel Amathieu |
| Edited by |
Jacob Craycroft Stephanie Ahn |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
United Kingdom: Curzon Film World United States: Cohen Media Group |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
| Country |
United Kingdom United States France |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $8,651,792[2] |
My Old Lady is a British–French–American comedy-drama film written and directed by Israel Horovitz in his feature directorial debut.[3] He had previously directed 3 Weeks After Paradise, a 51-minute testimonial from 2002 about his family's experiences following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center. The film stars Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Dominique Pinon.[4] It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[5]
Plot
Mathias, a down-and-out New Yorker, travels to Paris to liquidate a huge, valuable apartment he has inherited from his estranged father. Once there, however, he discovers a refined old woman, Mathilde, living in the apartment with her daughter, Chloé.
Mathias quickly learns that the apartment is a "viager" — an ancient French system for buying and selling apartments — and that he will not actually get possession of the apartment until Mathilde dies, and that he, in addition to that, owes her a life annuity of € 2400 a month. All this is a surprise to him, since his father never told him and he had language problems with the French lawyer.
Mathias has no money and no place to live, but Mathilde allows him to stay in the apartment with her. However, to pay for the next life annuity payment he steals and sells furniture from the apartment, and embarrassingly asks a prospective buyer of his contract for an advance payment.
Mathias discovers that Mathilde and his father had a long-lasting affair while both were married. Mathias and Chloé fall in love with each other, and since Chloé wants to stay in the apartment, Mathias decides at the last minute to decline a multimillion offer for the apartment/contract. Mathilde points out that Mathias does not have to worry about money: he himself can sell en viager, allowing him to live in the apartment while also providing him a life annuity (albeit a modest one, because of his fairly young age of 57).
Cast
- Maggie Smith as Mathilde Girard[6]
- Kevin Kline as Mathias "Jim" Gold[7]
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Chloé Girard[8]
- Dominique Pinon as Monsieur Lefebvre[9]
- Stéphane Freiss as François Roy
- Noémie Lvovsky as Dr. Florence Horowitz
- Stéphane De Groodt as Philippe
Reception
My Old Lady received mixed to positive reviews, garnering a 59% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 74 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Although My Old Lady doesn't quite live up to its stars' talents, Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith carry the film capably whenever they're together onscreen."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a 53/100 rating based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11]
References
- ↑ "MY OLD LADY (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ↑ "My Old Lady". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ "Maggie Smith to lead first-time director's Paris film". Daily Express (London). 8 May 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ↑ Kemp, Stuart (7 May 2013). "Cannes: Maggie Smith to Star in Israel Horovitz's 'My Old Lady'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
- ↑ Punter, Jennie (22 July 2014). "Toronto Film Festival Lineup Includes Denzel Washington's 'Equalizer,' Kate Winslet's 'A Little Chaos'". Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ Barraclough, Leo (7 May 2013). "Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline to Star in ‘Old Lady’". Variety. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ Lattanzio, Ryan (7 May 2013). "Casting Watch: Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline Head to Paris for 'My Old Lady'". Indiewire. Thompson on Hollywood (blog). Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ↑ Dickey, Josh (7 September 2013). "Toronto: Kristin Scott Thomas joins 'My Old Lady'; Cohen Media Group acquires North American rights". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (9 September 2013). "'My Old Lady' Sells To Slew of International Territories". Variety. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ↑ "My Old Lady". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ↑ "My Old Lady Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 October 2014.