A small portrait of friendship and intergenerational connection, painted in delicate strokes and warm tones.
Comment
05/19/06
Rate this Movie 
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005)
69
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:55
Fresh:38
Rotten:17
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Bittersweet and endearing, this film about aging and unexpected friendship is a lovely vehicle for Joan Plowright.
Theatrical Release:Nov 25, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Dan Ireland's latest film is the comedy drama, "Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont", based on the best selling novel of the same name, by the late, celebrated English author, Elizabeth Taylor, for... [More]
Starring: Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend, Zoe Tapper, Anna Massey
Director: Dan Ireland
Get This Movie
Reviews for Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Plowright, who has made something of a specialty of breathing life into stereotypically written older women for the past 20 years, makes the most of a rare opportunity to play someone still open to the surprises the world can bring.
05/19/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
05/13/06
Just as teenagers enjoy escapist movies, so do the elderly. They simply prefer a gentler pace. What is touching about Mrs. Palfrey is that she is allowed to be elderly, and not turned into a hip-hop granny.
05/05/06
Top CriticIreland, who made the brilliant, equally unfashionable The Whole Wide World, respects the kindness and concern his characters show each other.
05/04/06
The whole thing feels programmed; the movie's sense of humor lacks understatement. So does the movie's sense of pathos.
05/04/06
Top CriticNot deep but much fun, it gives Plowright possibly her best role in the flickers.
04/27/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/08/06
Of course, sentiment in such pure form is hard to embrace. Without a realistic edge, it's like a flower arrangement: lovely for a short span, then prone to wilting.
03/31/06
Top CriticA small film, done in a minor key. At times, it can be so slow it's like watching paint peel.
03/25/06
Top CriticAudiences susceptible to this sort of sweet Hallmark Hall of Fame sentimentality will be taken by the movie. Everyone else will probably find it just too manipulative.
03/21/06
A true gem: perhaps the most thoroughly charming, and completely satisfying, independent film I've seen in the past two or three years.
03/18/06
...if it weren't for Plowright, things might fall quickly apart.
03/16/06
Like a cup of strong British tea with a sugar cube tossed in, Dan Ireland's Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is at once sweet and bitter, a fairy-tale friendship in the context of an achingly lonely life.
03/10/06
Director Dan Ireland ... pokes his way through the plodding story, but Plowright rides above it all with a performance loaded with grace notes and tenderness.
03/10/06
It's funny, poignant, sweet, heartbreaking, and thoroughly entertaining. These are the kind of rich characters that make you want to pop round for a spot of tea.
02/24/06
It's watchable but wan, quite dry and bloodless.
02/24/06
Under the seamless direction of Dan Ireland, Mrs. Palfrey is enriched by the real-life parallel of watching a veteran actress in her 50th year of films.
02/24/06
Top CriticThe glorious Joan Plowright is reason enough to pay to see any film, and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is no exception.
02/23/06
Simple-minded but sweet, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is an old-age tribute that doesn't press as hard on your gag reflex as The World's Fastest Indian.
02/23/06
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review 
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
Moviefone's Year End Movie Poll
What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!
Tarantino's Characters
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds