I mean it when I claim that Gosford Park was both the best and the worst thing that's ever happened to Maggie Smith's career. She's spent the years since playing grouches, and while she's very good at it and has experienced a genuine professional renaissance in later life as a result, I'd rather like to see her show audiences what she's capable of. It looks to me that The Lady in the Van may provide her with an opportunity to expand at least a little on her current go-to part. Personally, I'll watch her in anything, I think she looks particularly good in this, and the trailer made me laugh several times. No matter what the critics make of it, I'll be there for Maggie. Veteran British character actor (aren't they all?) Alex Jennings pulls off a terrific Alan Bennett impression (wouldn't Alan Bennett, of all people, have an eccentric old lady living in a van in his driveway for 15 years?) too. Out in the UK on the 15th of November, and I'm at least smelling Golden Globe nominations from here.
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