Hampstead
Emily Walters is an American widow living a peaceful, uneventful existence in the idyllic Hampstead Village of London, when she meets local recluse, Donald Horner. For 17 years, Donald has lived—wildly yet peacefully—in a ramshackle hut near the edge of the forest. When Emily learns his home is the target of developers who will stop at nothing to remove him, saving Donald and his property becomes her personal mission. Despite his gruff exterior and polite refusals for help, Emily is drawn to him—as he is to her—and what begins as a charitable cause evolves into a relationship that will grow even as the bulldozers close in.
-
- Cast:
- Diane Keaton , Brendan Gleeson , James Norton , Lesley Manville , Jason Watkins , Simon Callow , Alistair Petrie
Similar titles
Reviews
hyped garbage
Admirable film.
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Emily (Diane Keaton) has adjusted to being widowed a year ago in all respects other than financially. She is trying to keep her poor finances a secret from the other residents of the upmarket apartment house she lives in when she encounters Donald (Brendan Gleeson), known locally as The Tramp, who lives in a shack built from scrap in thr grounds of a long-demolished hospital. Donald happily keeps himself to himself and makes to demands on anyone, but the owners of the site have served an eviction notice on him so that they can redevelop the site. Donald's instinctive reaction is aggressive bluster, because he doesn't know what else to do. And so Emily starts helping him to obtain Adverse Possession (Squatters Rights). Which doesn't go down well in her social circle.Hampstead is an affluent, upper-middle class area of north London which is mildly snobbish and, paradoxically, under the impression that it isn't, and this underlies the humour in this fanciful geriatric romance, based on a real-life case of someone who had made his home on a forgotten, but ultimately valuable, plot of land.Hampstead is photographed very prettily. Diane Keaton has a little more substance than in her last couple of outings, and Brendan Gleeson does comedy as well as he ever has: he doesn't get too much opportunity for comedy usually, which is a shame.Jason Watkins, as usual, steals every scene he is in.Real life, I suspect, had little in the way of romance accompanying the legal issues whereas the fate of the two ill-matched lovers is the raisin d'etre for the movie. And that's fine. The resolution is a bit too glib but, otherwise, this is very gentle and likeable.
A simple, pleasant and charming oddball romantic tale with great production standards. Of course, the truth is, I wouldn't have looked into it, much less touched it, without the name Brendan Gleeson. That he can adapt his 'strengths' to this form of confectionery product increases my admiration for his skills. I haven't exactly been clamoring for more Keaton, but she does what she does well. I had to hogtie and incapacitate my cynical beast to get through it, but it leaves a pleasant taste.
The new drama film Hampstead starring Brendan Gleeson, Diane Keaton, James Norton, Jason Watkins.In Hampstead an American widow Emily Walters (American actress Diane Keaton - The Godfather films, Father Of The Bride films) finds unexpected love with a man Donald Horner (Republic Of Ireland actor Brendan Gleeson - Mission: Impossible 2, Edge Of Tomorrow and the father of Republic Of Ireland actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson) living wild on Hampstead Heath in London the capital of England when they take on the developers who want to destroy his home.Amongst the other actors / actresses in Hampstead includes English actor James Norton (UK TV Series Grantchester, Rush) as Philip Walters Emily's son, English actor Jason Watkins (UK TV Series Trollied and Line Of Duty) as James Smythe an accountant and a musician who is friends with Emily Walters and Philip Walters, English actress Lesley Manville (Maleficent, Mr. Turner) as Fiona Emily's friend, English actor Simon Callow (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Amadeus) as a Judge, English actor Alistair Petrie (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Rush) as Steve Crowley, English actor Hugh Skinner (UK TV Series The Windsors and Poldark) as Erik, English actress Rosalind Ayres (Titanic, Black Beauty) as Susan, English actor Brian Protheroe (UK TV Series 55 Degrees North and Holby City) as Rory, English actor Will Smith not the black Will Smith since this one is white (UK TV Series The Thick Of It, Paddington) as Leon Rowlands, John Sackville (The Hoarder, The Wedding Date) as The Housing Minister, Peter Singh (Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, UK TV Series In The Club) as Xaviar and Stavros Demetraki (Dracula Untold, Risen) as David.Overall Hampstead is a good drama film filled with drama, sadness, tough hard harsh times, fall outs, family, friendship, togetherness, London people, communities, fishing, lakes, forests, people coming together to support each other, cemeteries, music, musical instruments, love and other things throughout the film.So I will give Hampstead an overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars and Hampstead is worth seeing if you like British drama films like The Sense Of An Ending or any other films along the same lines.So if you get the chance to see Hampstead in the cinema then you should go and see it sooner than later.
This is a poor mans' Lady In The Van, i.e. take a real-life incident, weave a fey plot of sorts around it, shoot on a real London location and wheel out the usual suspects, the television actors who go from one assignment to the next, hit their marks and neither bump into the furniture nor frighten the horses. Three days work in March, luvvie, right you are, another nice little earner, that's the new Aga sorted.That you, Tarquin? Can you give us a couple of days next month? Chichester? Well done, you. Never mind I'll give Roderick a bell. Break a leg. And thus you wind up with the likes of Lesley Manville, Jason Watkins and James Norton, who should have been insulted to be asked to phone in something Samuel West turned his nose up at. Okay, luvvies, this is the thing; we're bringing Diane Keaton in for the marquee, you're precious Primrose Hill types, you can do it in your sleep and there's a new kitchen in it. Luckily (for the producers) Camilla Long filed her last review for the Sunday times a week ago and is off to have a baby, otherwise ...