Spells like cranky old lady spirit

The Lady in the Van

Crit

Alan Bennett, the playwright whose driveway and life were occupied for fifteen years by a smelly, incontinent, crotchety old woman, is of two minds, and that bifurcation is the second-best thing about this film, as it was presumably of the play that birthed the film; it was presumably the best thing about the memoir that birthed the play. Alex Jennings plays Alan Bennett the writer and his antagonist Alan Bennett the liver of life, albeit a very quiet life.

The best thing about the film (and presumably the play) is the casting of Maggie Smith as the titular old lady, because not everyone could make such a genuinely off-putting character so impossible not to love anyway, even before we learn of the demons (largely Catholic ones) that knocked her screw loose.

Trailers

• Dark Horse--Working-class Brits buy shares in a racehorse; a documentary.
• Knight of Cups--Terrence Malick and a terrific cast.
• Sing Street--Lovestruck young boy, and rock 'n' roll to the rescue.