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About the Movie
Based on the true story of Miss Shepherd (played by a magnificent Maggie Smith), a woman of uncertain origins “temporarily” parks her van in Alan Bennett’s (Alex Jennings) London driveway and proceeds to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favor becomes a relationship that will change both their lives. Acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett to create this rare and touching portrait.11
Credits
Director
Screenwriter
Producers
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
90%- Reviews Counted: 133
- Fresh: 120
- Rotten: 13
- Average Rating: 7.2/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Smith's performance is not only virtuosic but indispensable in grounding the various loose threads of the story.
Fresh: The film is based on actual events in the life of British writer-personality Alan Bennett that he turned into a book in 1989, a play in 1999, and now a film directed by Nicholas Hytner. You might call this beating a dead horse. The English call it thrift.
Fresh: There's no use fending off the force of nature that is Smith. Sensitive and formidable, self-deprecating and brave, she elevates every role she's in, as we know by now.
Fresh: It's about the boundless talents of Maggie Smith, sometimes chewing up the screen, sometimes saying volumes simply by sitting very, very still, with a perfectly perfect expression on her face.
Customer Reviews
Wish I hadn’t watched
Struggle for me to watch since I’m 79 and alone with the same fears as the homeless Mary/Margaret. Good performances didn’t offset the tragedy of this true story of a brilliant concert pianist destroyed by her convent experience and a cold brother. I’m a writer, too, but I felt using her story was more exploitative than kind. Younger viewers might not be so critical but I regret viewing it.
A poignant little film...
Maggie Smith plays a wonderfully complex, stubborn, human character in Mary Shepherd — an elderly woman who lived in a van parked, in a driveway, in London, for 15 years. Told very much in the format of a diary, this moving, funny, quirky picture will make you laugh and cry. Wonderful!
Awesome
Maggie smith is da bomb.
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- $12.99
- Genre: Drama
- Released: 2015
- © 2015 Van Productions Limited and British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved.