My Old Lady (2014) Review

Lucas Versantvoort / April 9, 2015

My Old Lady is the type of film whose only saving grace is acting quality. Upon reading the film’s premise, you instantly realize it must’ve been adapted from a theatre play, and in this case, that’s not a good thing.

            The idea is that a fifty-something American, Mathias Gold (Kevin Kline), inherits an apartment in Paris after his father dies. He spends his last dime to get there, so basically this apartment’s his last hope. Upon arriving there, he finds the apartment occupied by an old lady, Mathilde (Maggie Smith). She informs him that she has a right to stay due to something called a viagér; basically Mathias gets to live in the apartment with her and has to pay her rent for living expenses. He can’t kick her out and the only way he’ll get rid of her is if she dies or he moves out. In short, as Mathias eloquently puts it, he’s inherited a 2400 dollar a month debt. The rest of the film traces his changing relationship with Mathilde, her daughter (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his own troubled past.

            The problem is that you can basically predict what happens: Mathias will confront—and overcome—his own tragic past, he’ll form a special bond with Mathilde and so on and so on. It also doesn’t help that you ‘feel’ the staginess of the screenplay: the self-referential lines, the overt symbolism that can just barely be categorized as symbolism, etc. What it does, it does quite well, it’s just that we’re firmly in ‘been there, done that’ territory. So the plot is merely serviceable, which means that there’s only one way for the film to redeem itself: acting. Fortunately for us, it’s pretty darn good. I needn’t waste any words on Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith who are as magnificent as ever, but things get a little trickier with Kline. He’s always been primarily a comedic actor which makes the occasional leap to drama all the more interesting. Although I found his angry, drunk scenes a bit cringe-worthy, overall it’s a good performance. All in all, My Old Lady is one of those films that’s decidedly bland ‘normal’, but whose acting is enough to warrant a recommendation.