Movie Review: Lovely, still

'Lovely, still' conspicuously breaches faith with the viewer. Photo / Herald online

For an hour, this debut feature is just a mercilessly cheesy old folks' love story. But then it turns preposterous and, in doing so, displays something suspiciously close to contempt for its audience.

Landau plays elderly Robert Malone, who lives alone and works as a grocery packer. When he comes home one night and discovers Mary (Burstyn), a woman he doesn't recognise, in his home, he is initially shocked and angry.

But she has a cogent explanation for her presence and when she asks him out on a date, he's charmed.

Even these two veterans cannot rid the ensuing romance of a curious stiltedness which is ultimately explained by a jarring plot twist in the second half.

It's very hard to resist the temptation to reveal it, since the film, playing fast and loose with good sense and plot logic, so conspicuously breaches faith with the viewer.

Suffice it to say that what's going on between the characters makes no sense - and seems faintly inhumane. It's far less smart than it would like to think and it never makes us care about the characters in a story that is as pointless as it is sentimental.

Stars: 2/5
Cast: Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn
Director: Nicholas Fackler
Running time: 88 mins
Rating: M (adult themes)
Verdict: Sentimental and senseless

-TimeOut