bobbobwhite Dan Ireland has created a very touching movie about the dignities and indignities of life intertwined that we all face in varying degrees, and how those occurrences can be changed in a moment. Joan Plowright as Mrs. Palfrey was next to perfect in her role of aging recent widow moved to London and living in a residence hotel in order to get on with the next phase of her life in the most pleasing and dignified ways possible for a woman of her certain age. Most interestingly, Mr. Ireland showed well the odd, standoffish and sterile way the English live and dine in residence hotels, as it was shown to be as entertaining as it was quaint, lonely and sad at times. But, things were soon going to change.............Mrs Palfrey chanced to meet a handsome but very poor busker who helped her after a fall she had on a sidewalk outside of his spartan flat. Thus blossomed one of the finest film friendships between those of vastly differing ages that I have seen since Harold and Maude. The caring and loving way Rupert Friend's struggling young man character took to Mrs. Palfrey, and was returned by her, was perhaps not something we would not see in a thousand years in real life with most young people today, but its unlikeliness was just the right recipe here for giving both the attention, happiness and improved self worth they both desperately needed at that point in their lives. The entire story was about that blossoming friendship and the rewarding gift it gave to each of them.Gift yourself and see this film story for a quiet and very high quality perception of aging, life circumstances and the deep value of true friendship, all of which battered down all doors of convention and showed well that true and loving human connections will always be made by differing people having the level of desire and need to do so.

David Holt (rawiri42) How beautiful it is to see a movie about the gentler and genteeler sides of life. No gratuitous foul language, no violence, just nice (albeit some quirky) people being nice.There isn't really a lot one can say about Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont and, some viewers might rubbish it as being slow due to the lack of any sort of wild car chases, shootings, riots or zombies (etc.) but those viewers are obviously missing out on a side of life that seems to be slowly disappearing - although, as long as there are still people like Ludovic and Gwendoline in the world, maybe there is still a dram of hope for the softer things.So, if you're looking for heaps of action and excitement, you probably won't enjoy Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. However, if you want a pleasant afternoon's entertainment in peace and quiet, get the DVD and watch it with a nice glass of your favourite wine at home. It will warm your heart.

sergepesic Old age these days seems like a curse. The scientists are trying to extend the longevity of life, but we don't know what to do with old people. They remind us of passage and ravages of time. Wrinkles on one's face are not inviting respect but shame and panic. This lovely little movie tells a common story. After losing a husband Sarah Palfray finds that her daughter and grandson don't have the time and interest to pay her a visit. She slowly starts to build her new life. Dame Joan Plowright plays her with warmth and sense of humor, avoiding cheap sentimentality. Young Rupert Friend is more than just a pretty face, we'll see much more of him in future. And, of course the gems of almost every British movie, marvelous character actors like Anna Massey and Georgina Hale. Telling a story is a dying art. Fortunately not everybody gave up on it.

GeneSiskel Every plot development in this movie, a meditation on life, death, love, poetic inspiration, and family ties, is hackneyed and accordingly totally predictable, but it satisfies just the same. The secret, I think, is the beauty which the cinematographer has wrung out of London, a preposterously gorgeous "retirement hotel," and the faces of the lead and character actors; the civility, respect for diversity, and stoicism inherent in the dialog; and the complete absence of anything like a laugh track to the comedy. Mrs. Palfrey, a London retiree recently widowed (played by Joan Plowright), befriends a good looking, slightly offbeat young man (played by Rupert Friend) who writes. A sensitive chap, he honors her friendship with the respect an older lady deserves. She guides him like the grandson she unfortunately has always had. He meets a girl. She lets him go. Enjoy it.