Wow, what an acting triumph for two of my favorite actors – Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren. I am going to sound a little vague because I don’t want to spoil anything. Roy (Ian McKellan) is a career con man who swindles businessmen with dodgy investments and romances lonely widows out of their pensions. He decides to bilk a wealthy widow, Betty (Helen Mirren), out of her money by seemingly meeting her randomly on a senior dating site. They hit it off and slowly develop close feelings for each other. She lets him stay in her home, and they even take a trip to Germany together. Betty’s grandson begins to suspect that his mother’s beau isn’t all he seems to be, but she won’t hear anything negative about him. Roy has an actual partner in crime, who is played by Jim Carter (Mr. Carson on Downton Abbey) who, as you can imagine, is playing a character as far removed from the honorable butler as can be. There are a lot of twists and turns in this story, but I won’t go into them. That would be telling! But there are some fine performances all around. What else could you expect? Between the three of them, they have a combined age of 225. That is a lot of experience and it really shows! I am not sure this would be appeal to people under forty, but only because the main characters are in their 70s and 80s. That is too bad, because they will be missing quite a treat!
Winchester Mystery House
I was really interested in seeing this movie because I have toured the actual Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California! During the years around the turning of the 20th Century, Sarah Winchester inherited a fortune from her husband, who was the majority stock holder in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. She feels guilty that these rifles caused so much death and pain, and believes she has been cursed as a result. She thinks the ghosts of those hurt by the rifles are haunting her, and begins adding rooms to her house to keep them confined. She has construction going on around the clock, seven days a week. All in all, her house ended up with 161 rooms. There are strange things in this house (to go along with the strange goings on!). Stairways that go nowhere, doors that open into nothing, cabinets that open to other rooms. All of this is true and fascinating to see in person. The movie speculates about what might be the reason for all of the construction and what Sarah thinks it will accomplish. Helen Mirren brings her considerable acting chops to the role, ably supported by Jason Clarke and Sarah Snook; but even her prestige can’t hide the fact that this it is really an old fashioned ghost story. There are apparitions, mysterious noises, moving objects and a few scares. I would recommend this movie just so you can see what the real house looks like as they actually had permission to film in and around it. Go for the ghosts, stay for the house!!