"How About You..." brings together some brilliant actors to perform in a movie that is unworthy of any of them -- a Christmas fantasy about a group of ill-natured and demanding residents of a nursing home who are transformed into a loving family by a young woman who is left in charge of the place when her older sister makes an emergency trip to take care of their mother. Vanessa Redgrave and Imelda Staunton are the best known of the featured players in this movie: Redgrave as Georgia, an elderly but still beautiful former stage star, and Staunton as Hazel Nightingale, a talented artist living under the loving but oppressive supervision of her older sister. But that isn't the end of the talent. Hayley Atwell as Ellie, the trans-formative sister, and Orla Brady as Kate, the careworn elder sister, Joss Ackland as a former judge with demanding ways and a nasty temperament, and Brenda Fricker as Heather Nightingale, Hazel's older sister, all display considerable talent. But the plot is treacly and the execution is worse. I really felt sorry for the actors who deserved a lot better from the scriptwriter and the director. I haven't read the original short story by Maeve Binchy, but having seen the movie I certainly don't want to.
Review of How About You
