Watch How About You... For Free

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Crappy film

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Blistering performances.

"How About You..." brings together some brilliant actors to perform in a movie that is unworthy of any of them -- a Christmas fantasy about a group of ill-natured and demanding residents of a nursing home who are transformed into a loving family by a young woman who is left in charge of the place when her older sister makes an emergency trip to take care of their mother. Vanessa Redgrave and Imelda Staunton are the best known of the featured players in this movie: Redgrave as Georgia, an elderly but still beautiful former stage star, and Staunton as Hazel Nightingale, a talented artist living under the loving but oppressive supervision of her older sister. But that isn't the end of the talent. Hayley Atwell as Ellie, the trans-formative sister, and Orla Brady as Kate, the careworn elder sister, Joss Ackland as a former judge with demanding ways and a nasty temperament, and Brenda Fricker as Heather Nightingale, Hazel's older sister, all display considerable talent. But the plot is treacly and the execution is worse. I really felt sorry for the actors who deserved a lot better from the scriptwriter and the director. I haven't read the original short story by Maeve Binchy, but having seen the movie I certainly don't want to.

I saw this last month at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival where it was among the 10 films selected as Audience Favorites. It features a great cast of seasoned stage and film veterans as a group of nursing home residents not fondly referred to as "The Hardcore." Well, it isn't actually a nursing home but a posh assisted living retirement home in Ireland's lovely Wicklow area. Kate Harris (Orla Brady) runs the retirement home that she started out of an old estate she bought. Her younger college dropout sister Ellie (Hayley Atwell) needs a place to live for a while so she has moved in to work as a staff member. Christmas is a time where most of the residents leave to spend time at the homes of family members except for a group of four. This dysfunctional bunch cause a lot of problems and keep the home from full residency because potential residents refuse to live under the same roof as them. Donald Vanston (Joss Ackland) was a judge whose alcoholic lifestyle forced him off the bench. Georgia Platts (Vanessa Redgrave) was once a glamorous stage and screen star who has chosen to drop out of society. Hazel Nightengale (Imelda Staunton) and her sister Heather (Brenda Fricker) are two spinster sisters who can't cope with life. Hazel is only 50 and doesn't even belong in a retirement home but can't live away from her domineering older sister Heather. Kate is suddenly called away as Christmas approaches and Ellie is left in charge of the gang of four as all the other residents and staff have left for their Christmas vacations. Additional supporting roles are the late Joan O'Hara in her final screen role as Alice Peterson, Elizabeth Moynihan as the stern Nurse Healey and Darragh Kelly as Mr. Evans, the government's mean retirement home inspector who would like to see the home shut down. Anthony Byrne directs. Jean Pasley adapts the screenplay from a short story by popular Irish writer Maeve Binchy. Veteran cameraman Des Whelan is cinematographer. Nial Byrne provided the music score. This is a good film and it's premise and cast naturally appeals to an older audience but the role of Ellie keeps things pretty hip. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10 and recommend it.

I have just seen How About You at its U.S. premiere as part of the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Although there are, as we've grown to expect, beautifully judged performances from Joss Ackland, Brenda Fricker, Imelda Staunton and Vanessa Redgrave, to say nothing of the up-and-coming younger actors, the highlight for me was the performance of Irish actress Joan O'Hara, whom I did not know. Ms O'Hara gave us the most beautiful, sensitive, intelligent face of a very mature woman I have ever seen, a face which the camera seemed to caress in closeup. I was saddened to learn that Joan O'Hara herself died in July 2007 and this may have been her final performance.

Very boring though I enjoyed the cinematography ... happen to know the cinematographer, Des Whelen. Wasn't expecting huge depth from a Maeve Binchy-based story but I suppose I had some fond memories of Circle of Friends. That's not to say the performances weren't good - Vanessa Redgrave performed at her usual high standard and Orla Brady has talent, but the characters/plot were not believable. I must say that I loved the Christmas music in the background. Can't trace the music... I have looked on Amazon and a few other sites but no luck. would anyone know if there is a soundtrack or would the Christmas songs be available on a DVD.