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Is Anybody There? (2008)

Director: John Crowley

Time Out rating

Average user rating

8 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

The tender rapport between this film’s two leads, 76-year-old Michael Caine and 14-year-old Bill Milner, is reason enough to see this sweet-natured British indie that explores the not-very-sexy topics of death and ageing. Milner, who readers may remember as one of the two kids in ‘Son of Rambow’, is Edward, whose parents run an old people’s home near the sea. It looks like a retirement pad for thesps: there’s Leslie Phillips in the corner, making crude jokes; there’s Sylvia Syms, playing a grump; there’s Thelma Barlow, still looking like Mavis from ‘Coronation Street’. The year is 1987 and writer Peter Harness is exploring his experience of growing up in the ’80s in an environment in which blue rinses, Zimmer frames and incontinence were as common as Rubik’s Cubes and Roland Rat.

Then Caine appears: he’s Clarence, a former magician, bitter about ageing and initially dismissive of Edward’s childish ramblings about death and the after-life. You see, Edward isn’t reacting well to the sight of bodybags floating down the family stairlift and his parents are too busy to hold his hand and explain all things spiritual: his upbeat, well-meaning mum (Anne-Marie Duff) is juggling all sorts to keep things afloat; his dad (an underused David Morrissey) is in mid-life-crisis mode and drooling over the family’s teenage employee Tanya (Linzey Cocker) while sporting jumpers that would make Gyles Brandreth blush.

It turns out Edward needs Clarence as much as Clarence needs Edward: the older man becomes a surrogate father while the child allows Clarence to rediscover some of the wonder in life and face up to his demons. Caine is terrific in the role, physically convincing and able to communicate the fading of dreams and the onset of dementia with skill. Some of the more ensemble episodes of the film, especially those involving Edward’s parents, are less interesting and well-executed, but this remains further proof, after films like ‘Last Orders’, ‘Children of Men’ and even ‘The Dark Knight’, that late Caine can be a joy to watch.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Issue 2019, May 1-7 2009

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User reviews of this film

Paul said...

Posted on May 03 2009 22:46 The film has some of the feel of Kes and suffers from too much going on to distract from the central theme. Certainly not a film about Alzheimer's although dementia seems to be touched on sometimes in an incoherent way. Yet a lovely film with a magic scene that had the audience in sustained hysterics that lasted beyond the scene.
I didn't leave me in tears and I didn't see Ross either, but I would recommend the film as a sane alternative to Wolverine poo.

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Madison said...

Posted on May 02 2009 19:18 Take tissues because you'll blub.

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ARCHGATE said...

Posted on May 01 2009 21:20 Bill Milner deserves a tad more praise than he gets in Dave's review. They boy is wonderful in this film.

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dave calhoun said...

Posted on Apr 28 2009 14:13 When I wrote 'review' (below), I meant 'comment' . . .

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dave calhoun said...

Posted on Apr 28 2009 14:12 Thanks Marsellus. Excuse my slightly short-tempered review, but when we value the independence of our reviews so highly, it hurts to be accused of plagiarism! Thanks for reading our reviews - and please continue to! All best, Dave

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Marsellus said...

Posted on Apr 28 2009 14:10 It must just be a coincedence then. I meant no offence nor should you take any offence from what I wrote. After all, you and Ross must be like minded individuals. (You clearly share the same opinions on films.)

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dave calhoun said...

Posted on Apr 28 2009 13:51 I can assure you I very rarely watch Ross - and certainly didn't last week! Thanks for the very offensive accusation though. (It's hardly brain surgery to reference the other good films in which Caine plays his age - this new film is partly about dementia for God's sake!)

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Marsellus said...

Posted on Apr 28 2009 13:21 Is it just a huge coincedence that parts of this review are identical to the one given by Jonathan Ross? This review even references the exact same three films that Ross did (Last Orders, The Dark Knight and Children of Men) and his review was screened a week ago on TV. Perhaps Time Out reviews should be checked for plagiarism. Lazy writing indeed...

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