Common sense would seem to indicate that if one thing is good, two of the same should be better. After all, two dollars are better than one, dual championships in sports means the first wasn't a fluke and few will probably turn down twice the amount of sunny days while on vacation.
Of course, all of that must be viewed in the appropriate context. For instance, having two Oscar winners in one film would seem to be better than just one. Yet, one must consider whether the two complement each other's work or constantly try to upstage the other. Then there's the point that having two acclaimed performers means squat if the film they're in isn't any good or just comes off as mediocre.
The latter's the case with "Ladies in Lavender," a period drama that features actresses Judi Dench (winner for "Shakespeare in Love") and Maggie Smith (her awards coming from "California Suite" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"). Seeing the two together is something of a treat -- considering their combined talent and collective filmographies -- but they can't overcome this film's lackluster script and occasionally odd direction.
As is often the case with such misfires, there is potential present. In pre-WWI Cornwall, England, two older sisters discover a foreigner washed up on their shores. Lack of a common language means the facts regarding him are left up in the air, and one of the women goes from treating him in a motherly fashion to falling for him romantically (or at least falling for the notion of falling in love with him).
Throw in another stranger -- Natascha McElhone ("Solaris," "Ronin") -- a jealous and suspicious local doctor -- David Warner who will always be Jack the Ripper from "Time After Time" to me -- and fears of espionage, and there would seem to be plenty on hand with which to work. Unfortunately, actor turned first-time director Charles Dance -- who works from his own adaptation of William J. Locke's original story -- can't really decide what sort of film he's trying to tell.
Is it an older skewing version of "Tadpole" where Dench's character is decades older than the washed up stranger played by Daniel Brühl ("Goodbye Lenin!")? Or is it a WWI era espionage flick? Then again, it could be the tale of a musical virtuoso who lightens up the lives of the two sisters and the inhabitants of one of those small, but charming English coastal towns that always show up in the movies.
It's actually bits and pieces of all of those various plot thrusts. The unfortunate thing is that none of them feel fully fleshed out and they don't collectively gel as well as they should. It doesn't help that Dance directs most of the proceedings at a snail's pace. Yes, I understand this art house flick isn't an action film or -- notwithstanding the teased espionage elements - a spy thriller, and that the target audience isn't looking for or expecting that.
Nevertheless, it's slow even by those standards and some of Dance's directorial "flourishes" aren't helpful. For reasons unknown, the footage occasionally goes into slow motion mode and even stops in freeze-frames from time to time. I suppose that's supposed to be symbolic of something, but by the time the third or fourth such occurrence puts on the cinematic brakes, I was too bored to care.
Our leading ladies are decent and get a few fun lines of dialogue that sound delicious when uttered with those proper-sounding English accents. For the most part, however, the material doesn't even remotely challenge them or their thespian abilities.
Brühl is charming as the stranger and Warner is okay as what I'm guessing is supposed to be the requisite antagonist (although that's a generous label). What made the film easier for me to watch was McElhone who looks as radiant as ever and is simply a pleasure to view no matter the red herring character she inhabits.
Perhaps if the film had been about her (with the sister characters being in supporting mode), it may have been better or at least more interesting. As it stands and despite their abilities and track record, Dench and Smith might not exactly be slumming with this film, but they're certainly coasting through it without much effort.
And when you have two actresses of this caliber cast together, you expect a lot more of the film in which they appear. "Ladies in Lavender" isn't bad, but it ends up being about as interesting as watching the titular paint color drying on the wall of some coastal English hamlet. The film rates as a 5 out of 10.
![[Screen It]](/images/underground_header.jpg)