The feel-good movie about retirees making the most of their twilight years has practically become a genre in itself, one that has seemed to reach an apex recently with the release of Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Hope Springs, that Meryl Streep flick involving a week of old-age marriage counseling and its accompanying awkwardness. Though sure crowd-pleasers for the senior contingent, these films rely a little too heavily on predictable carpe diem tropes to pass the test of time for younger generations. Quartet, Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, however, manages to avoid such pitfalls.
Set in the beautiful British countryside at Beecham House, a home for retired musicians endowed by a very wealthy composer, Quartet features a star-studded cast that is largely from across the pond. British old-timers Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, and Michael Gambon fill out a group of acting royalty crowned by none other than quintessential Queen of Everything Maggie Smith.
Anchoring the film as the retired opera singer and diva Jean Horton, Smith expectedly never disappoints in her portrayal of a powerhouse performer. Smith’s character is a new and exciting alternative to the Dowager Countess of Grantham. She has a softer side that relates back to her reluctant retirement and age, and a few regrets of a former starlet. However, it wouldn’t be a Maggie Smith part without a few remarks about the atrocities of others’ actions that throw censorship out the window.
Swooping into Beecham House just as they are preparing for their annual gala, Horton inevitably stirs up a load of drama as the potential for a reunion with the other three musicians in her former Quartet becomes a point of tension. A rekindled relationship with Reginald Paget (Tom Courtenay) is one of the more predictable elements of the plot, but it’s quickly salvaged by the pitch-perfect comedy—appealing one-liners like, “It tastes like Christmas!” are hardly an endangered species—and the generally irresistible vibrancy of its characters make for a film that’s difficult to deny.
Quartet was originally a play by Ronald Harwood, the Oscar-winning screenwriter for The Pianist, and Dustin Hoffman approached him in 1999 to adapt the play for the screen. Together, Hoffman and Harwood formed an unbeatable team destined to create a likable screenplay. However, the true appeal of the film, based on its central themes, is the music—classical staples like Schubert and Verdi’s opera are there, of course, but the soundtrack also features some jazz standards.
Though not immune to clichés, Quartet manages to rise above the typical stereotypes of its genre to offer a heartwarming yet cheeky and self-aware film for audiences of all ages. Unsurprisingly, director Hoffman has managed to play all the right notes.
