Ladies in Lavender Reviews

Ladies in Lavender is a gentle and pleasant film, full of good nature and subtlety. Although it may not blow you away, the performances by Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are exquisite. You could be fooled into thinking you were watching a couple of 18 year old girls, that is how convincing their performances are. Charles Dance's direction is good but the constant slow-motion technique did get on my nerves somewhat and it is a little detrimental to the actor's performances and the pace of the film I feel. Still, a pleasant viewing experience. Why not watch it with your Mum on a Sunday afternoon?

It doesn't take us any effort to understand the genuine fascination caused by the mysterious, handsome young man played by Daniel Brühl, but one should only watch this unremarkable British drama for the superb performances by Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

Lavender Ladies Lose Their Way. Aesthetically pleasing without much content. Although the story is good and told beautifully it lacks drama.

Two grand old English ladies find a Polish kid washed up on their beach. They nurse Andrea back to life, and find out he is an accomplished violinist. I enjoy this sort of movie where the characters have to make difficult decisions.

[font=Century Gothic]"Ladies in Lavender" takes place in 1930's on the English coast where sisters Ursula(Judi Dench) and Janet(Maggie Smith) Widdington enjoy their quiet lives together until one day a young man(Daniel Bruhl) washes up on shore almost on their doorstep. Luckily, he is still alive, having apparently survived a shipwreck. Dr. Mead(David Warner) diagnoses the young man as having nothing more serious than a broken ankle. So, he is left to recuperate in the sisters' home. And as he gets better, they find that he speaks no English, comes from Poland and that his name is Andrea...[/font]

[font=Century Gothic]"Ladies in Lavender" is a sweet, nice, gentle movie about life in a bucolic setting but its straightforwardness is both a blessing and a curse for it does make the resolution extremely hard to take.(And two of the characters do not behave in a very credible way, either.) In a way, the film plays off the perceptions of the characters versus the viewer's preconceptions of what may happen. Overall, the movie is a testament to the impossibility of making a bad movie with both Judi Dench and Maggie Smith starring in it. And Natascha McElhone(should ditch the accents, though) and David Warner are good in support. [/font]

Excellent performances by the two Dames and Miriam Margolyes was hilarious as always. Every part she plays she seems to fit into perfectly. Anyone who ever had elderly aunts living together would see them reincarnated as Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. The interplay of the sisters' (Dench and Smith) personalities both within their household and with village characters and with their housekeeper was beautifully portrayed. It's true that some events are never explained fully, but I thought there was considerable psychological depth to the film.

'Ladies in Lavender', stars two stalwarts of British stage and screen, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. They play sisters, Janet and Ursula, who live in a house on the cliffs in Cornwall. One night during a storm they discover a young man washed up on the beach below.

Ensconced in their spare room, speaking no English, with a broken ankle he's the most exciting thing to happen in the women's lives in decades and Ursula develops a crush on him.

Andrea who's played by Daniel Bruehl of Goodbye Lenin fame turns out to be a talented musician, stirring the interest of a German artist Olga (Natasha McElhone) who's staying nearby.

The magnificent Cornish scenery should leave no doubt as to why people, artists especially have always been attracted there. The Cornish setting was breathtaking and the music glorious. The acting, the late 30's household setting, the village details, the music make this a superb story. This is not a film for teenagers. The emotional tenor of this film is absolutely haunting and exactly right for anyone of a certain maturity.

It's a movie that explored in a subtle way themes of loss, love, ageing and that portrayed life and community from a bygone era. It's a very poignant and moving film. The flick gives a very lovely and sad insight into one woman's unfullfilled dreams of love and her grief. It was a delicate study about the denial of love which the two dames carried off superbly.

The strength of this film was what was left unsaid -- there was enough given away to make one think about the deep emotions running just below the surface. Albeit the story has some holes in it, and is a bit cheesy at times but what is going on internally for Usrula (Dench) is protrayed subtely yet powerfully enough to carry the film.

Judi Dench has never been so adorable and lovable.

good movie..

great acting from the "sisters of mercy", their maid and the doctor. this movie contrasts the accommodation, insecurities and naivete of the old gals against the bright talent, youthful energy and self-advancing agendas of the young foreign couple. a social commentary of sorts, with lots of great lines from dench & smith.

A decidedly simple quiet drama. But thanks to the considerable talent of both Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. They manage to elevate it.

Really nice and heartfelt movie about a foreign young man who gets washed upon 2 old ladies shore after a storm. They then bring him in and restore him back to shape. But they soon find out he is a very talented violinist. Anyway, this movie is really nice and pleasant to watch. It's kind of interesting, too. The acting also, was wonderful. It may be a tad too slow sometimes, but in all it's quite a relaxing film to watch, with wondrous setting and warm storyline.

Allow me to sigh beore I write about this film (long sigh)... What the hell was I expecting from a movie about two lobnely garden tending ladies in the coast of south west England? Horror would've been more apt for such a scene, specially with a stranger found on the beach, but it offered no more than a story with many gaps, let's say it all resulted in a fluffy accidental mystery though nothing was really explained... and that's the problem with adaptation, that the writers try to be so faithful to the original work they forget about the creative freedom that film allows and REQUIRES in order to transmit a VISUAL story.

OK, then, I can't blame Maggie Smith or Judy Dench, though an actor can only do so much with a flimsy story like this, but I was ratherintirgued by Dench's obsessive and over-bearing character, roles which i like to see her in instead of that smart iron dame she always seems to be casted for or chooses to be in (she could well be the Morgan Freeman of female actresses, always the same character over and over again when in such roles), but this time she could've been better used, but wasn't.

I've extended myself too much on this movie and shouldn't have, because it was so bad. And on that note I'm done.

I loved this tale of the elderly sisters and their spirited rivelry for the attentions of the wayfarer. The wayfarer is just a bit of eye candy.

Felt the need to be with her if I had his young role in real life. I would have stepped to the plate , for sure.

A warm and touching story. 2 really really great Dames. Fell in love with it from the start, great period piece!

This was a cute film. I really enjoy every film Maggie Smith has been in, and with the addition of Judi Dench, it was even better.
It was funny how they wanted to keep Andrea to themselves. It's a pity he had to get better. He did look a bit Christian Baleish to me.
This is a nice afternoon movie to watch by yourself if you like these kind of movies.

was very excited that it had the guy from the Edukators in it, but that was pretty much the high point

This is the sweetest film! Really shows that feelings of love knows no age...we never stop feeling, caring and fantasizing about what could have been. Great fairtale!

I just watched this again the other day, and I had forgotten just what a wonderful little gem it is. It is a simple, sweet tale about two elderly sisters who discover a young foreigner washed up on their beach in pre-WWII England, and nurse him back to health. It's worth watching just for Maggie Smith and Judi Dench alone, and it's gorgeous score by Nigel Hess, featuring Joshua Bell on the violin.

Judy Dench and Maggie Smith playing sisters. That is almost enough to recommend this movie. If there is a message in this movie it might be this: there is a line between caring for someone and trying to control their life. In different ways each sister learns that loving the young man they rescued eventually means letting him go to live his own life. NOT an action movie and no special effects. But a good story very well told.