Best movie of this year hands down!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Many reviewers are using words like "lovely" and "beautiful" to describe this film. I agree, and I want to add: "peaceful and calm". If you're in the mood for action, excitement and thrills, choose something else. Your blood pressure won't rise while watching this movie; it will fall.Normally I don't like a slow, deliberate pace, but Joan Plowright had me in the first few minutes and never let go. The perfect actress for the part and the perfect part for the actress. And then there were all those long-careered British character actors being totally believable. Whenever we watch a recorded movie, my wife makes me stop it several times to go pee or get a snack. Not here. We watched it all the way through without interruption.The only problem is that when things go at a measured pace, the little goofs that are made in any movie become blatantly obvious. But that's a very minor quibble. Start this one and be prepared to be charmed.

Joan Plowright gives a restrained, endearing performance in this 2005 film.Having lost her husband, she moves to a hotel in London where she comes upon an assortment of characters at the hotel. Terrence Rattigan, who wrote "Brief Encounter" would have had a ball with this one as we again see lonely hotel guests sitting at separate tables attempting to make the best of what life now has to offer to them.When her grandson fails to call and come visit her, Plowright strikes up an accidental friendship with a young man who has helped her when she has fallen. The two have a lot of interests in common and can recite passages from famous lines of various items. Mrs. Palfrey (Plowright) reveals that her favorite movie is "Brief Encounter." When the young man, who is now being passed off as her grandson, tries to obtain the film, he meets the girl of his dreams.Though the ending is sad, this film explores the personal relationships existing among people who have either been cast aside by relatives or no longer have the latter.

My wife and I enjoyed this movie, very warmth and very sensitive to the needs of the elderly. Modern society has lost the sense of the extended family and with it we have lost the wisdom and love that our elderly citizens can provide to society. The acting was very good and the film score a pleasure to listen to. The director needs to be commended for not allowing this film to become a caricature of the elderly, but to bring realism to the problems of growing old and alone.I would suggest that you see this movie with your children and discuss their feelings afterward. It should prove interesting to hear their comments.We recommend this movie for the whole family.

You know when a director with the last name of Ireland does a film about a Scottish lady coming to London that there's got to be some major appeal.Independent film lovers will cheer for MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT, a story with a strong script, excellent acting, and some sumptuous English scenery.Joan Plowright (JANE EYRE, 1996) stars as Mrs. Palfrey, an aging widow who's traveled from Scotland to London to start her life anew in her sunset years. She decides to spend her waning years at a retirement hotel called The Claremont, a somewhat drab locale from what was advertised to Mrs. Claremont in a picture magazine. No matter. She makes herself comfortable, running into The Claremont's quirky staff and residents. The bellhop is a portly and sonorous balding man who mumbles more than he speaks. And the residents range from overly-nosy to irritatingly grumpy. But most want to know why Mrs. Palfrey's grandson, Desmond, (whom she calls all the time) doesn't come to see her.One potentially rainy day, Mrs. Palfrey is returning from an outdoor excursion, hurrying home, when she stumbles and falls outside a young man's flat. The 26-year-old man's odd name is Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, 2005). Ludy (as he likes to be called) helps Mrs. Palfrey and in return asks that she help him write a really great novel. He wants to use her years and experience to aid in his telling of the story. Ludy seems like such a nice young man that Mrs. Palfrey agrees. Ludy walks Mrs. Palfrey home and everyone at The Claremont immediately believes this to be the elusive Desmond. Mrs. Palfrey lets this deception continue and even invites Ludy over for dinner at The Claremont posing as her grandson. Everyone is smitten with Mrs. Palfrey's faux-grandson and a relationship between Mrs. Palfrey and Ludy starts blossoming.This isn't a Harry and Maude relationship. This is a relationship not built on a scrap of sexual innuendo. It is a love of friendship and understanding that reaches deep into each of the characters and pulls out of it a fantastic end of life/beginning of life set of circumstances. The beauty of Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is that the story builds on each subsequent scene, moving us deeper and deeper into their lives. We see Mrs. Palfrey's love of her dead husband, Arthur, and the beginnings of Ludy's relationship with a beautiful young lady thanks to a movie recommendation by Mrs. Palfrey.Although the beginning of the film takes a while to catch on (i.e., it may seem painstakingly slow to some), the ending is well worth your time. It is a story that's been told before, but not with such impact, and this is undoubtedly thanks to the strong script by Ruth Sacks based on Elizabeth Taylor's bestselling novel (no, not that Elizabeth Taylor).Also, the filming at the New Forest Palace grounds near the Abbey at Beaulieu was some wonderful visual candy for fans of this film. It was unbelievably beautiful.One big warning: make sure you keep a box of Kleenex next to you as the story comes to a close. You'll need 'em.