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Is There Anybody There? (2008)

Director: John Crowley

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Movie review

From Time Out New York

Most filmgoers are lucky to stumble across a movie that guides us down paths unknown. Usually, however, we’re faced with something like John Crowley’s melodrama, in which the entire narrative can be mapped out within minutes. It’s a good bet from the get-go that socially awkward youngster Edward (Milner) will bond with Clarence (Caine), the new resident of the nursing home run by the boy’s parents. Sure, there’ll be banter-filled tension, but given that the cantankerous golden oldie was once a magician—the Amazing Clarence—while the lad is obsessed with the supernatural, and both are lonely souls, a close bond is all but assured. Perhaps the kid will help the widower get over his wife’s passing, and the elderly gent will teach Edward something about life. Might Clarence’s occasional memory lapses be a sign of dark things to come? Maybe…

Forget the maybes. The only mysteries here are why Crowley, who skirted stock conventions with ingenuity in Boy A (2007), can’t stop from delivering something so determinedly formulaic and why every one of Caine’s sublime moments is countermatched by truly cringeworthy turns. Uttered by both characters at various times, the film’s title is meant to evoke fears of a finite world. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear they were asking about the state of the theater.

Author: David Fear 2009-04-14 18:20:23

Time Out New York Issue 707: April 16 - 22, 2009


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User reviews of this film

  • Liz said...
    Posted on May 05 2009 14:56 I took my young daughter to see this on a damp bank holiday afternoon - hopeful of a touching , even sentimental film to lose ourselves in for a while. It didn't meet my expectations at all. I found it irritatingly predictable and very superficial from the outset. Even though I kept waiting for it to improve I continued to be disappointed by what felt like a 'made for TV' film. The ending seemed rushed and very contrived - the story went nowhere and the characters were weak . Try as I might I didn't feel at all moved.This from a woman who cries at adverts! Not worth the ticket money or the popcorn, I'm afraid.
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Cast & crew

Director: John Crowley

Cast: Michael Caine, Bill Milner, David Morrissey

Duration: 95 mins

US Release: Apr 17 2009




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