Plot
A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her car that's parked in his driveway.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 6.9/10 (1,451 voted)
Critic's Score: 67/100
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Stars: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Dominic Cooper
Storyline
A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her car that's parked in his driveway.
Cast: Maggie Smith -
Miss Shepherd
Dominic Cooper -
Theatre Actor
Jim Broadbent -
Underwood
James Corden -
Street Trader
Stephen Campbell Moore -
Doctor
Eleanor Matsuura -
American Journalist
Frances de la Tour -
Ursula Vaughan Williams
Claire Foy -
Lois, Social Worker
Russell Tovey -
Man with Earring
Roger Allam -
Rufus
Alex Jennings -
Alan Bennett
Samuel Anderson -
Jehovah's Witness
Selina Cadell -
Lady Wiggin
Sacha Dhawan -
Doctor Malik
Dermot Crowley -
Priest
Taglines:
A mostly true story
Country: UK
Language: English
Release Date: 15 January 2016
Filming Locations: Gloucester Crescent, Camden Town, London, England, UK
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Three of the actors in this movie have starred in the Harry Potter film series: Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent and Frances de la Tour. However, this is the first time all three actors share the screen outside the franchise. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 8/10
Like all the best English comedies, the humor in "The Lady in the Van"
is founded on character and in eccentricity but then we should expect
nothing less from the pen of the great Alan Bennett. This is mostly a
true story we are told and it's the story of a very eccentric lady and
one, or is it two, quite eccentric men. The lady is Mary, or is it
Margaret, Shepherd who might be considered homeless were it not for the
van she lives in. The somewhat eccentric man is Bennett himself. I said
two because in this case we get two Bennetts for the price of one, Alan
the writer and Alan the householder and they are both played by Alex
Jennings.
Miss Shepherd really existed and she's the lady who, at Bennett's
request. moved her van from the street outside his house, where she had
parked it, into his driveway. Initially she was due to stay a few
months but ended up parking there for 15 years. Bennett turned the
story of her stay first into a novella and then into a play and now,
under the direction of Nicholas Hytner, into a film and a beautiful job
he's made of it.
Of course, for the purpose of dramatic and comic effect Mr Bennett has
taken liberties, adding bits here and there including a delightful
phantasmagorical ending. He also surrounds himself and Miss Shepherd
with a host of other characters, some almost as eccentric as they are.
Recreating the part she played on stage Maggie Smith is magnificent in
the title role. Of course, you could say Maggie has been playing
variations of Jean Brodie for the past 45 years. It's easy to see Miss
Brodie in the put-downs of the Dowager, Countess of Grantham had Jean
been born into a different generation or class and it's not much of a
step to see Miss Shepherd as an older, very much down-on-her-luck Jean
Brodie. A third Oscar is certainly not out of the question.
Jennings, too, has Bennett off to a tee and there's lovely support from
the likes of Frances De La Tour, Roger Allam and Deborah Findlay as
sundry neighbors while the entire cast of Bennett's "The History Boys"
manage to pop up in one form or another. If it feels slighter than some
of Bennett's other offerings it may simply be because here he is
writing about someone we would probably pass in the street without
looking twice at. Of course, if on meeting Miss Shepherd in the street
we knew what we know now, we might indeed give her a second or even a
third glance; we might even invite her to move her van into our
driveway. Slight? Not a bit of it.
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