Quartet: An entertaining visit to a retirement home

Written by Mark Schumann, Father of Three
Thursday, 31 January 2013 13:37

Each week, the Reel Dad checks the nutritional value of a movie — new or classic — to help you choose what to watch. This week’s pick is a new film from first-time director Dustin Hoffman, Quartet.

Senior citizens are having a good time at the movies. One the hits of 2012, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, tells the touching story of seniors who support each other through changes in their lives. The legendary Jane Fonda returns to the screen as a senior who chooses to move in with her friends in All Together and Michael Haneke’s meaningful Amour, about two retired music teachers, is an Oscar nominee for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Film.

Joining this slate of movies about seniors is Quartet, the first film directed by actor Dustin Hoffman. This entertaining visit to a retirement home for professional musicians may not develop its characters as effectively as Marigold Hotel or offer its leading lady as many moments as Fonda receives, or offer the insight of Amour into aging. But this tasty movie snack offers marvelous actors moments to shine, even if the film never challenges the mind.

From the opening moments, we know we are visiting a comfortable place. Hoffman sets his film — based on a play by Ronald Harwood, who won an Oscar for writing The Pianist — in a lush countryside mansion outside London. The happy residents go through their daily routines of music lessons, rehearsals and conversations without any serious considerations of life’s challenges. Only their egos, developed over years in the public view, get in their way of enjoying these chapters in their lives. And, when a renowned opera diva played by the wonderful Maggie Smith arrives, our movie memory warns us that fireworks may soon appear center stage.

Hoffman and Harwood tell their slight story with pace and appeal. They fill the ensemble with actual retired musicians who give the piece an appealing authenticity. And they carefully focus the action on four performers who, years ago, entertained audiences with a performance of a quartet from Verdi’s Rigoletto. Whether or not these seniors will reunite for one more performance gives the film its dramatic urgency. 

What Harwood, however, fails to do is give his characters much depth. We know, from our familiarity with Maggie Smith, that she is likely playing an aristocrat with superb comic timing. But the script offers so little explanation of her fears that Smith must reach into her toolkit of expressions to fill in the gaps. Few actresses can make this work as effectively as the reliable Maggie. While Pauline Collins captivates as a singer who suffers memory loss, the script fails to examine the real impact of her change. 

And Tom Courtenay’s intensity as a Smith’s former husband is undermined by Harwood’s reluctance to examine how the character has patched his life together after suffering the ultimate heartbreak. By failing to get underneath the characters, Harwood relies on Hoffman and the actors to complete the storyline. Hoffman pushes Smith, especially, to add nuance to a performance that, at first, gives the actress familiar ground to play on. But there’s a limit to what Hoffman can accomplish. If only this director and cast could work with substantive material to articulate the issues of aging instead of using them as plot points.

No matter the limitations of Quartet, thank goodness that senior citizens get these moments on film. Our experiences at the movies are made richer by the performances they offer, the perspectives they share. We just want these moments to be unforgettable. And, sadly, we will not remember Quartet for long.

Film Nutritional Value

Quartet

* Content: Medium. Screenwriter Ronald Harwood seems more interested in using the issues of aging as plot points than thoroughly examining their impact.

* Entertainment: Medium. Thanks to the director Dustin Hoffman’s visual sense, and a dream cast of pros, this visit to an English retirement home is entertaining.

* Message: Medium. While any chance to look at the issues of aging can be meaningful, the superficiality of the piece undermines its potential.

* Relevance: High. Any opportunity to explore the lives of retired people is relevant to a world where the baby boomers continue to retire.

* Opportunity for Dialogue: Medium. Most family members will find something to talk about as, together, you spend a few days with this collection of characters.

(Quartet is rated PG-13 for brief strong language and suggestive humor. The film runs 98 minutes.)

3 Popcorn Buckets

This Week’s Movie Menu

What’s on your family’s movie menu this week? Choosing what films to offer is a lot like planning what meals to serve. And all the choices on television make it easy to savor something at the same time you nourish the mind and heart. This week, cable stations offer a range of nutritious movies. Here are a few choices.

Take a step back in time to introduce your family to delightful classics from the Hollywood archives. Thanks to Turner Classic Movies, all you need to prepare is the popcorn.

If your children have never seen a Humphrey Bogart movie, suggest spending Saturday evening in Casablanca on TCM, Saturday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. This Oscar-winner from 1943 features Bogie in his iconic role as the mysterious owner of a popular nightclub in the Moroccan city during World War II. Is he a spy? A savvy supporter of the underground? Or simply someone looking for peace and quiet? And why does he seem in control of who comes and goes from this strategic destination? With Ingrid Bergman at her most magnetic, and Peter Lorre at his most sinister, Casablanca is an ideal introduction to the films of the 1940s. What a marvelous movie decade it was.

Skip ahead a few years to share Mildred Pierce with your children, airing at midnight, Saturday, Feb. 2, on TCM. Adapted from the James Cain novel, this “guilty pleasure” offers Joan Crawford as the ultimate do-it-all mother who owns a business, raises a family and juggles a series of romances. Her life, though, gets complicated when her older daughter turns out to be more than she can handle. Savor the way Crawford chews the scenery in this entertaining example of the film noir period of Hollywood moviemaking. And, yes, the film is shot in glorious black and white.

Color fills the screen in the hilarious Auntie Mame showing on TCM at 5:30 pm Sunday, Feb. 3. This adaptation of the Patrick Dennis novel features Rosalind Russell as the ultimate free spirit who breaks all the rules during a most engaging and adventurous life. This woman believes, “life is a banquet and most people starve to death,” as she introduces her young nephew to surprising new places and people. This film, from 1958, captures the energy and fun of the original piece that, sadly, disappeared from the musical movie version of 1974. Savor the original!

On the Broadway stage, The Music Man offered just enough story to keep our interest, introduce the musical numbers, and create colorful characters. With its magical transfer to the screen, when the show begins to sing, we all stand and cheer. While some Broadway musicals lose their lustre on the way to Hollywood, this one arrives on screen with its energy intact. What makes The Music Man so much fun is how songwriter Meredith Willson captures the spirit of the American experience in his patriotic tunes and rhythms. In his town, when summer comes, the flags begin the fly, the parades start to assemble, and a positive spirit touches every soul. Look for The Music Man on TCM at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3.

Serving nutritious movies can be as easy as turning on the television. And be sure, as you watch together, to share what you observe, question and consider. Watching movies together can prompt meaningful family conversation.