It's sad that Dustin Hoffman, who certainly knows a thing or two about movies, started his directorial debut with this dud. He had a great cast with which to work: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, and Dame Gwyneth Jones.
They're all wasted in this movie that starts with a cliché and goes downhill from there. There are no real characters--only stereotypes. People have compared the movie with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but that comparison only works at a superficial level. You could believe in the characters in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In Quartet, the screenwriter was just going through the motions.
The movie has a IMDb rating of 6.7, which in the low range. We often enjoy films with low ratings, because they are quirky or unusual in some wonderful way. Not this one.
If you want to see the wonderful Maggie Smith acting in the right vehicle, watch Downton Abbey.
If you want to see a great film about aging, see Amour.
They're all wasted in this movie that starts with a cliché and goes downhill from there. There are no real characters--only stereotypes. People have compared the movie with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but that comparison only works at a superficial level. You could believe in the characters in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In Quartet, the screenwriter was just going through the motions.
The movie has a IMDb rating of 6.7, which in the low range. We often enjoy films with low ratings, because they are quirky or unusual in some wonderful way. Not this one.
If you want to see the wonderful Maggie Smith acting in the right vehicle, watch Downton Abbey.
If you want to see a great film about aging, see Amour.