Complete A-Z list


I'll See You in My Dreams

7/10

Stars: Blythe Danner, Sam Elliott, Martin Starr, Mary Kay Place, Rhea Perlman, June Squibb, Malin Akerman

Director: Brett Haley

A sweet 'n' gentle, grey-dating movie, with Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow's mum) in a Diane Keaton kind of role as a willowy 60something retiree whose husband died 20 years before in a plane crash.

She spends the day pottering about her home, making friends with the pool guy (Starr) and playing bridge or golf with her pals (Perlman, Place, Squibb) at a posh retirement home.

After her dog dies, she strikes up a relationship with the pool guy, who takes her to his local karaoke bar. Like Keaton, Danner sure can sing, and gives us a hauntingly liquid version of Cry Me a River while she's there.

Back at the retirement home (to which she has no desire to go) she locks glances with a charismatic newcomer (the gravel-voiced Elliott), who takes her out on a date in the yacht on which he's splashed his savings. And there's a visit from her daughter (a suitably tall Akerman). But then her life goes pear-shaped...

This is a nice little film which will struggle to find an audience with filmgoers who these days demand more red meat with their cinematic diet. Danner is pretty adorable, but then, in her heyday of the 1970s, she always was.

David Quinlan

USA 2015. UK Distributor: Universal (Bleecker Street). Colour by Color Collective.
96 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 07 Feb 2016