VIDEO: The trailer for Is Anybody There?
This seems to be the year for nostalgia films. Here we have relative newcomer John Crowley directing an English working-class yarn from Peter Harness's autobiographical script.
It's 1987, and young Edward (Bill Milner) lives in an old-folks' home run by his parents. Mum (Anne-Marie Duff) is sweet and dedicated, Dad (David Morrissey) is harried and headed for a midlife crisis. Bored and cranky, Edward passes the time trying to record the psychic reverberations of the recently departed. When a down-and-out stage magician named Clarence (Michael Caine) shows up, a grudging friendship develops.
Despite the treacle (unavoidable given the premise), the film treats its characters as flawed and fallible: Clarence's broken widower's heart is revealed to be something less innocent. And Caine's own magical career is mirrored in Clarence's cockney slang, his sad regret, and his bag of tricks.
