Rating: 
Summary: Age and Beauty are Not Mutually Exclusive!
Review: These darling older ladies reveal their courage and resourcefulness when their day trip turns into an adventure! We have the privilege of getting to know the histories of these women as they reveal themselves through recollections of their youth. This film is thoroughly enjoyable, surprising and sweet. A rare gem!
Rating:
Summary: excellent entertainment, surprising, funny and poignent
Review: This film is a delight! All of the performances are excellent and natural, and the story is unique and compelling. This is a film you might tend to overlook, but don't! Each of the women's stories is an intimate view of her life. In spite of their differences, they come to admire and care for each other through the trials and tribulations of a possibly life threatening situation. A true gem.
Rating:
Summary: "Survivor" for Seniors, but OH, so good!
Review: This is a seriously good movie, for those on the search for a serious good movie, but don't go expecting much by way of a plot. With much of it improv, it feels more like a documentary. Like "survivor for seniors." What happens if you drop a busload of very old women off in the woods and tell them to fend for themselves?
It's all very civilized, and there's not a lot of urgency about it. No pulling straws to see who gets eaten. Just a bunch of old women (and one mildly injured young one) trying to figure out how to divide an apple into 7ths while sharing the details of their lives. The most intriguing, for me, aspect of this film is that the actresses played themselves. Nonagenerian Constance Garneau was really Nonagenerian Constance Garneau, and when she weeps with fear at the thought of her impending death it doesn't feel like acting. Octagenerian Cissy Medding's bewildered grief as she faces her own fear of a life unloved and alone is not feigned.
But don't let me mislead you--this movie is not depressing. It's affirming. These old girls get along very nicely with each other and their world, and while there are no answers to the deeper dilemmas they face (we do get the sense that Constance may find hers), they manage their present challenge with an enviable bon vivant. In places, in fact, it's very funny. The interaction between Mary Meigs and Cissy Meddings when Mary reveals her awkward secret is priceless.
Good friends, good movie. I highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Review of Strangers in Good Company
Review: This is a wonderful movie about aging, friendship, and acceptance. The acting is very good and the characters interesting and endearing. This is not a fast-paced movie. It reminds one that people are much more interesting when you understand them more deeply than superficially!
Rating:
Summary: Review of Strangers in Good Company
Review: This is a wonderful movie about aging, friendship, and acceptance. The acting is very good and the characters interesting and endearing. This is not a fast-paced movie. It reminds one that people are much more interesting when you understand them more deeply than superficially!
Rating:
Summary: Serenely beautiful
Review: This is one of a select few DVDs I give to special friends knowing that the viewing of it will be received as a true gift. The story line is simple: 8 women -- 7 are elderly -- must grow resourceful when their bus breaks down and they are stranded miles from civilization. At the time the film was made, the 7 women, all non-actors, were feeling old and marginalized in their lives. Their situation changed one magical summer when they became unlikely movie stars. This film is a record of that summer. The viewer is caressed by the presence of these women as they open up and blossom before our eyes on screen. Enduring friendships were forged among cast members, many of whom felt their participation in this film was the best experience of their lives. Inevitably, most of the cast members are now gone. It is rewarding to know that these women lived to experience their standing ovations when the film was initially released. Please note that there is a companion book about the making of the film (and more), written by cast member Mary Meigs titled "In the Company of Strangers" published by Talonbooks. It is a splendid read and is available from Amazon.com.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Marvelous
Review: This is one of those miraculous surpises in life. Each of the women in the movie presents their real lives and spirits in the fictional setting of a bus broken down 20 miles from civilization. They spend three days surrounded by the most beautiful scenery possible, exposing their humanity to each other and to the audience. It's the kind of movie and story that makes you happy to be alive, even while it forces you to confront your mortality. It also serves as a gentle reminder that every person you meet has a rich and nuanced personal history. No one can be simply judged and ignored, as our normally hectic lives might pressure us to do.
|
