This film has lots in its favour, as well as a few unusual quirks.
It's full of the familiar quips and spirited acting you'd expect from the writer and cast - I've always felt that Bennett has probably been an expert on how old people talk since he was a child.
It's not a documentary and I don't think medical verisimilitude was the main priority of the movie. But if you approach it from the point of view of the human beings involved, rather than getting too wrapped up in whether this is a 100% accurate depiction of a current institution, you'll appreciate the film far more.
There's an unsettling twist near the end, and the final 60 seconds consists of a fourth-wall polemic which I thought was magnificent, but if you somehow feel that a movie about the closure of a much-loved medical institution should somehow avoid being "political" then this probably isn't the film for you. Otherwise, strongly recommended - it's warm-hearted but poignant.
It's full of the familiar quips and spirited acting you'd expect from the writer and cast - I've always felt that Bennett has probably been an expert on how old people talk since he was a child.
It's not a documentary and I don't think medical verisimilitude was the main priority of the movie. But if you approach it from the point of view of the human beings involved, rather than getting too wrapped up in whether this is a 100% accurate depiction of a current institution, you'll appreciate the film far more.
There's an unsettling twist near the end, and the final 60 seconds consists of a fourth-wall polemic which I thought was magnificent, but if you somehow feel that a movie about the closure of a much-loved medical institution should somehow avoid being "political" then this probably isn't the film for you. Otherwise, strongly recommended - it's warm-hearted but poignant.