Maggie Smith was the drawcard for watching this oddity that sounded like it may have had something to say. Writer/director Stephen Poliakoff keeps the viewer waiting to see if his story will develop into a profound revelation or simply avoid the issues being seriously suggested. This treatment is nothing more than a filmed stage play & these usually leave the patient viewer wondering why they bothered to stay through to the end - 'Mary', proves to be just another . In the 60's and 70's a movie like this might have been produced by the B.F.I. as a 30-40min short story and would have been interesting all the way but, being stretched for over 100mins kills sustained interest & is quite infuriating. Poliakoff's grandfather had associations with the company that supplied hearing aids to famous people i.e. Winston Churchill - so it's possible some stories of a 'personal' nature may have been overheard or known.
There are stories involving political and royal dignitary's, movie makers, and socialites, ugly enough to nauseate and make the skin crawl - this story dramatically hints of many such people being implemented in such evil occurrences, but then rattles on, going nowhere. It appears 'Mary' is the second part of an earlier movie titled 'Joe's Palace' - If this overlong HBO/BBC spin-off is any indication - then might just be best to stay away from both. Disappointing.
There are stories involving political and royal dignitary's, movie makers, and socialites, ugly enough to nauseate and make the skin crawl - this story dramatically hints of many such people being implemented in such evil occurrences, but then rattles on, going nowhere. It appears 'Mary' is the second part of an earlier movie titled 'Joe's Palace' - If this overlong HBO/BBC spin-off is any indication - then might just be best to stay away from both. Disappointing.