'Is Anybody There?' Film Review

Cast

Michael Caine
David Morrissey
Anne-Marie Duff
Bill Milner

Director

John Crowley

Plot

Where does the soul go when it leaves the body, or more importantly, does it make a sound? These are the questions that plague 10 year old Edward’s mind. Quite obviously, Edward is not your average lad. His parents (Anne-Marie Duff and David Morrissey) have turned their house in to a retirement home, giving him food for thought and guinea pigs for his experiments, as he tries to capture the sound of the soul departing the body using his tape recorder.

Edward’s morbid fascinations are abruptly cut short though when he encounters “The Amazing” Clarence (Michael Caine), a retired magician and grieving widower with a need to age disgracefully. So begins the most unlikely friendship.

Read more about Michael Caine

Verdict

This is one of the best British films in years. Not only is it laugh out loud funny, it will also strangely make you cry at the same time. The quirky humour is irreverent and macabre and satisfying in every way. This is a film about human connections, people’s needs to connect with others, a boy and man story - one at the beginning of his life and one at the end. It’s amazing what we can learn from each other if we just listen.

Review

‘Is Anybody There’ is set in the 1980s in sleepy seaside Britain. This unusual story is based on the somewhat unconventional childhood of writer Peter Harness, who was raised in an old people’s home run by his parents. Harness drew on his experiences in this unique world, dramatising stories of the elderly residents, though the creation of the hell raising retired magician Clarence is totally fictitious. But there is nothing fake about Michael Caine’s portrayal of Clarence, a character who the veteran actor brings to life with an absolutely magnificent, yet heartbreaking performance. He is the embodiment of a man at the end of his life, and his slow decay is both an acting and life lesson in itself.

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The performance of young actor Bill Milner (‘Son of Rambow’) as Edward is nothing short of wonderful. Even with his limited experience and tender age, he is able to show wisdom and depth of character way beyond his years. This is a truthful and memorable performance from Milner which leads me to believe that he could be one to watch if the coming years. The rest of the ensemble are made up of the who’s who of veteran English actors, including Lesley Phillips, Thelma Barlow, Ralph Ineson and the sadly departed Elizabeth Spriggs just to name a few – all of whom seem to be having an absolute ball.

The look of the film seemed to be more 1970s than 80s, but maybe leg warmers and ra-ra skirts didn’t make it to that part of the country. The film was lovingly shot, effectively producing an overall colour palette of the shades only produced by those Polaroid cameras everyone owned in the day. Looking back, it seems a good thing that stone wash denim is no longer really available and that the mullet is only warn by men reliving their youth.

Trudi Camilleri




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