Watch The Lady in the Van For Free

So much average

Good movie but grossly overrated

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

My biggest praise for this film is for the performances of Maggie Smith and Alan Jennings, who brought to life their characters extremely well. Smith shines as the eccentric and cantankerous Miss Shepherd who has a troubled past, whilst Jennings is also brilliant as Alan Bennett with his sharp wit and intellect providing for some funny moments. The relationship that builds between them is developed very effectively.However, I do have many problems with the narrative, mainly that it doesn't amount to much with so little actually happening in the story. I found it very hard to be engaged when most of it singly revolved around the interactions between Smith and Jennings with very little else going on. Also, learning about Miss Shepherd's past could have been quite intriguing but it just leads to some rather underwhelming reveals at the end with little deeper exploration into how she became the person she is.In the end I found this to be quite average, not terrible by any means, but not something I will ever have the inclination to watch again.

Lady in the Van (2015) tells the true story of Alan Bennett's (Alex Jennings) uneasy friendship with an homeless elderly woman (Maggie Smith) who stayed in his driveway in a series of vans for 15 years. Over the course of those years he learns about the series of events that caused Mary Shepard to become homeless. Despite the possible grim subject matter of being homeless and suffering from the mental stress that comes from being homeless and guilt from past mistakes, the film maintains a fairly light-heated tone that makes the some of the bleaker aspects have more of an impact as well as make it more digestible. The trouble with these types of movies is that there is very little I can say about it that is not spoiling a joke or a major plot development. However what I can talk about is the performances.Maggie Smith is amazing, flat out amazing. She captures every scene she is in, whether it is insulting Alan Bennett or anyone around her or showing how badly old age decays her physical and mental health, the film also displays how a series of events led her into the terrible state she is in at the time of the film. Alex Jennings is great too, in fact everyone is great in this, and they deliver their lines with perfect comedic timing and grace that always ends in laughs. The writing for the first and second act oozes wit and charm, none of it feels forced for comedic effect or heavy handed. It keeps the pace flowing smoothly and is after all the film's most valuable assist. However this sadly becomes badly apparent in the third act.I will not give away any spoilers but it tries to introduce a Meta narrative that works as well into the pace and previous type of narrative as one running a hand over a cactus does to ease pain. It hurts the film and reduces what could have been a overall pleasant and haunting movie into a silly feature that thinks it is cleverer then it is.I did enjoy the film and I would watch it again. It is just a shame that the final act decides it wants to change the narrative in that the film had not earned or needed.

The Lady in the Van is, on the surface a showcase of sublime acting by Dame Maggie Smith, but the film is multilayered. Firstly, Alan Bennett plays with the notion of reality and fiction, between consciousness and the subconscious. He uses The Lady in the Van to question whether his years of writing, alone at his desk, has blurred reality and the unreality (the imagination). Then he projects that onto the reader, and audience. Now I get why Alan Bennet is a genius. Kudos also to the director. Nicolas Hynter for interpreting the essence of Bennet's brilliance. The narrative of the story also deals with mutable social issues, such as eccentricity, abuse of homeless people, and the idealistic social worker., corrupt police, and the hypocrisy of the liberal elite.That hypocrisy could be directed squarely at Bennett, who, as a wealthy man, could have easily bought a house for the lady who lived in a van. I feel she was fodder for his project and to that extent what are is skewed ethics here genius writer or not?If you like Bennett's style of writing, and Dame Maggie Smith's acting and the work of director Nicholas Hynter, then this film could be your cup of tea!

I have liked Alan Bennett ever since his TV series and the stage adaption of History Boys years ago. Alex Jennings was really a good pick for him because the real Alan Bennett and himself very much look the same. I was very surprised that the real Alan Bennett appeared in the near end of the film, I thought that was honestly Alex Jennings lol! Its like they are swapping around as twins, you don't realise which one was which!Maggie Smith was good as the old woman, she does know how to play a cranky one too! Although I couldn't understand why her character wasn't seen escaping the nursing home, it was as if she runned and left her wheelchair behind. Yeah the social worker appeared but why didn't we see her running away from the nursing home?! Thats why I had to give this movie a 7/10, even though its alright but, I felt like it was being too rushed yknow!