Garvey (Malcolm McDowell) is irascible, insulting and unpredictable. His wife Evelyn (Jane Seymour) is baffled and hurt by his behaviour, especially as today is their fortieth wedding anniversary. Their grown up children despair of the way their parents' marriage is becoming so troubled.
It becomes apparent that Garvey's choleric attitudes cover a secret he is withholding from his nearest and dearest, and that he is deliberately creating distance between them and himself. This is tough on Evelyn and when he runs off for the day she ends up drinking heavily, flourishing a fencing sword, and wandering off into the night. Meanwhile Garvey has recruited a beautiful young woman to stand by the family funeral plot, ready to deliver a eulogy he gives her when the moment is right. Impending death is a constant companion throughout the film.
There is an eccentric performance from Keith Carradine as Victor, Garvey's younger brother, and most of the scenes he's involved in bring little to the development of the
storyline. Other than to show that his sibling, despite his obsession with his own problem, cares enough to help him out when he's in a jam. (Victor gets arrested for, as his driver describes it, "stabbing a door".)
While it's good to see another (still too rare) movie focussing on the lives of older characters, and the ending provides some genuinely moving moments, the overall impression is one of confusion and I ended up unclear what the film was wanting to say to the audience. Except perhaps that that's how families are - confusing, messy and full of uncertainties.
A film that turns out to be less than the sum of its parts.
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