My Old Lady – Review

The feature debut of playwright Israel Horovitz, there is a visible stage-play aesthetic to My Old Lady; the story of a bankrupt American (Kline) who journeys to Paris to take ownership of an apartment bequeathed him by his estranged recently-deceased father. Discovering the apartment is legally the resident of an elderly inhabitant (Smith) until the time of her death, Kline’s would-be landlord sets about trying to find a way to kick the apartment’s resident swiftly to the curb but soon finds himself bonding with her prickly daughter (the always sternly likeable Kristen Scott Thomas).

With obvious appeal for the Best Exotic Marigold crowd, there are moments of charm and sincerity to My Old Lady that ascend it higher than it’s inevitable Film4 home; however those moments become less and less frequent as the film descents into mawkishness that betrays the unquestionable talents of those onscreen.

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In it
Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, Kristen Scott Thomas
Behind it
Israel Horovitz