Recycled comedy charming
Emily Walters (Diane Keaton) can no longer afford to keep living the life she always has.
It’s a year after the death of her husband Charles, and the money is becoming tight for the charity shop volunteer. The bills are stacking up and her evasion of the taxman is not exactly paying off.
With son Philip (Grantchester‘s James Norton) looking likely to leave the country in order to chase his career, Emily could well be left to fend for herself with ‘‘no skills and nothing of value’’.
Assistance comes in the form of neighbour Fiona Crowley (Lesley Manville), who offers to set her up with an accountant who can solve all her problems.
But his motivations are not exactly spreadsheet-based and it turns out Fiona has her own agenda in play.
Seeking solace in the attractions of the nearby Hampstead Heath, Emily spies its ramshackle resident Donald Horner (Brendan Gleeson) and, learning of his battle against the authorities to keep his ‘‘rustic cottage’’, decides to make him her cause celebre. However, to her surprise, she finds herself becoming more interested in his character and his unique charms.
Inspired by the true story of Hampstead Hermit, Harry Holmes, director Joel Hopkins’ (The Love Punch, Last Chance Harvey) ecoinfused senior-rom-com is a pleasant, if predictable romp.
While Robert Festinger’s (In the Bedroom, Trust) script attempts to grapple with various modern-day issues (baby boomer financial struggles, housing crises) there’s something distinctly old school about a plot that resolves around two seemingly disparate protagonists and a court case that relies on the vagaries of the British law around squatting rights.
Eighty years ago, Hampstead probably would have been considered a screwball comedy. However, in 2017, this is a film that feels both grounded in real life and one that makes some massive narrative leaps.
Fortunately, what pulls it through are two delightful performances and some genuine chemistry between Keaton and Gleeson. The former is as kooky, chaotic, exasperated and fashionable as ever, while the latter turns on the cuddly charm as a ‘‘patchouli and pond-scum’’ odorifically enhanced alternativelifestyler. The pair’s clashing and canoodling reminded me of Keaton’s memorable pairing with Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give, but with a slightly less irascible, slightly more beardy male star.
Like Horner’s DIY home, Hampstead has been cobbled together with ‘‘recycled bits and bobs and imagination’’, but the end result does enough to pass muster. – James Croot