Susan Granger’s review of “Is Anybody There?” (Story Island Entertainment)
Incomparable 76 year-old Michael Caine (who catapulted to fame in 1966 as “Alfie” and has been working hard ever since, appearing last year as Batman’s butler Alfred in “The Dark Knight”) is the reason to see this low-budget, independent film that careens between comedy and pathos as it gently explores the ramifications of aging.
Set in England in 1987, Caine plays Clarence Parkinson – a.k.a. “The Amazing Clarence” – a retired, widower magician who reluctantly moves into Lark Hall, a ramshackle seaside retirement home, where he befriends a rebellious 10 year-old Edward (Bill Milner from “Son of Rambow”), the resentful son of the harried proprietors (Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey). Surrounded by expiring elderly residents, Edward has become morbidly obsessed with death, dying and, specifically, curious about ghosts. Whenever someone seems ready to gasp one a last breath before departure, he’s by the bed with his tape recorder, eager to capture any supernatural evidence of an afterlife, wondering: ‘Is anybody there?’
Even though his mind is beginning to fail, curmudgeonly Clarence finds momentary rejuvenation by teaching Edward sleight-of-hand card tricks, intriguing him with a bogus séance in the basement and staging an ill-fated birthday party. Basically, the story revolves around life lessons about growing up, growing old and toting emotional baggage, along with the various ramifications of their unconventional relationship.
Written by Peter Harness, whose formulaic plot and clichéd caricatures can perhaps be forgiven since he’s drawing from his own experience growing up in a geriatric nursing home, and sensitively directed by John Crowley (“Boy A”), it features an irascible supporting cast, including veterans Rosemary Harris, Leslie Phillips, Sylvia Syms and Peter Vaughan. But it’s two-time Oscar winner Michael Caine’s graceful, subtly nuanced performance that lingers in the memory, a bit reminiscent of Peter O’Toole in “Venus.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Is Anybody There?” is an empathetic, engaging 8, a farcical dramedy that’s bemusing and beguiling.
