Reg, Wilf and Sissy, retired opera singers are experiencing a new life experience as they now live in Beecham House, a retirement home for former professional musicians. Things are still fine for them, but their annual party to celebrate Verdi's birthday may be disrupted when Jane, a singer and former Reggie's wife, comes to live here. It seems that these singers are trying to cope with the new situation while tackling the problem and performing the concert successfully.
The first thing to note is that Hoffman has apparently had a grand time working with these professionals, all of whom as residents of the home are splendid.
Beyond the Masterpiece Theatre set design there lies a cunning tribute to the easy command of experienced actors and to the art that brought them there.
More lethargically paced than even the slowest of its geriatric characters, the movie creeps along with all the dull, inoffensive inevitability of old age.
If this film is any indication of {Hoffman] creative capacity as a director, one can only hope that he will pursue his third act with as much vigor as his first.
While Hoffman seems very aware he's gently closing the book on an entire generation of entertainers, he nonetheless allows them to do what they've always done best: be entertaining.
Will she, or won't she, join the others on stage in a quartet rendition of Verdi? Not to worry: it all unravels splendidly in this teeth-in-a-glass comedic drama.
