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My Old Lady (film)

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My Old Lady
US theatrical poster
Directed byIsrael Horovitz
Written byIsrael Horovitz
Produced byRachael Horovitz
Gary Foster
Nitsa Benchetrit
David C. Barrot
co-producer
David Atrakchi
Gael Cabouat
Boris Mendza
StarringMaggie Smith
Kevin Kline
Kristin Scott Thomas
Dominique Pinon
CinematographyMichel Amathieu
Edited byJacob Craycroft
Stephanie Ahn
Music byMark Orton
Production
companies
BBC Films
Deux Chaveaux Films
Fulldawa Films
Distributed byUnited Kingdom:
Curzon Film World
United States:
Cohen Media Group
Release dates
  • September 2014 (2014-09) (TIFF)
  • 10 September 2014 (2014-09-10) (US)
  • 21 November 2014 (2014-11-21) (UK)
Running time
107 minutes[1]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States
France
LanguageEnglish
Box office$4,261,978[2]

My Old Lady is a British-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Israel Horovitz in his feature directorial debut.[3] (He also 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. Mathilde also stuns him by saying that the buyer must pay a fee until the seller dies, abiding by the rules of viager. Mathias decides to share the apartment with the old woman, but he soon learns that it creates several inconveniences.

While working with a Parisian real-estate agent, to sell his contract for the apartment, Mathias discovers that Mathilde and his father were more to each other than mere tenant and landlord. The trio are connected in unexpected ways, with the help of a hidden truth revealed by Mathilde.

Cast

Reception

My Old Lady received mixed to positive reviews, garnering a 58% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 53 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 54/100 rating based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11]

References

  1. ^ "MY OLD LADY (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  2. ^ "My Old Lady". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Maggie Smith to lead first-time director's Paris film". Daily Express. London. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  4. ^ Kemp, Stuart (7 May 2013). "Cannes: Maggie Smith to Star in Israel Horovitz's 'My Old Lady'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Barraclough, Leo (7 May 2013). "Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline to Star in 'Old Lady'". Variety. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Lodderhose, Diana (9 September 2013). "'My Old Lady' Sells To Slew of International Territories". Variety. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  10. ^ "My Old Lady". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  11. ^ "My Old Lady Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
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