Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

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Schmaltzy film falls down for the count

By: PETER KEOUGH

5/31/2006 8:10:03 AM

Rating: 2.0 stars

EXPLOITATIVE: One way to describe the relationship between Loduvic and Mrs. Palfrey

In lieu of plot development in this little tea cozy of a movie, director Dan Ireland knocks his elderly characters down. The first to drop is the redoubtable widow of the title (Joan Plowright, the go-to dowager when Dame Judi is busy). Relocated from Scotland to the drab Claremont Hotel in London to check in on her no-show grandson Desmond, Mrs. Palfrey has a fortunate fall outside the basement flat of cute Ludovic (Rupert Friend), an aspiring writer (though such voiceover lines as “she danced about her memories with the grace of a young girl” bode ill). When her aged cohabitants at the hotel mistake him for the AWOL Desmond, both go along with the charade. The relationship seems complex — vaguely sexual and exploitative, as Ludovic mines Mrs. P’s life for material. I don’t know how the original novel by Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that one) goes, but Ireland opts for schmaltz. By the third fall, the film is down for the count.

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