The Lady in the Van

Bennettophobes should look away now for this is peak Bennett.  With two old ladies, no less than three incarnations of the man himself, and a whimsical mix of real world events and inventiveness, this is about as Bennetty as it gets.

The story chronicles the relationship of the writer to Miss Shepherd, an eccentric elderly lady who ended up residing in a van on his driveway for fifteen years until her death.  It is also Bennett's attempt to understand a little more of the woman who lived in such close proximity, yet in many ways remained a mystery to him.  There were hints that her past included a considerable musical talent, a period as a nun, and some personal tragedies.  Seemingly sustained by Catholic guilt, and self-centred, disputational and delusional in her dealings with the rest of humanity, she is far from being a cosy guest.

Maggie Smith's performance ensures Shepherd can never be viewed with sentimentality.  She is cantankerous, dysfunctional, intolerant and rude, yet endlessly fascinating, shrouded in mysteries and occasionally an object of pity.  Yet providing several laugh out loud moments.

Alex Jennings makes a convincing pair of Bennetts, one living in the real world, bound in his behaviour by the codes of lower middle class politeness, the other the writer, viewing everything and everyone as a source of material.  His own conversations with himself, querying his motives and sometimes imagining himself to be other than he is, give us some of the film's best moments.

There are some lovely supporting performances too.  Gwen Taylor is a portrait of genteel repression as Bennett's mother, Jim Broadbent is genuinely creepy as a (fictional) ex policeman, and Roger Allam stands out, as he so often does, as the perfect middle class snob.  There are plenty of other familiar faces dotted throughout, but who turn down the chance to deliver some dialogue from the master of comic mundanity?

The film tells you much about Bennett himself, and the world he inhabits, but at heart it's about a life that has fallen through the cracks in the pavement.  If you're not an AB fan it might all be a bit too much.  But I am, and this was very enjoyable way to pass the time.