'The Lady in the Van' Movie Review, Trailer Stars Maggie Smith Movies for Grownups

Maggie Smith Drives ' Lady in the Van'

As a homeless woman with a secret the ' Downton Abbey' star is touching and hilarious

Nicola Dove/Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics Maggie Smith stars in 'The Lady in the Van.' Rating: PG-13 Run time: 1 hour 44 minutes Stars: Jim Broadbent, James Corden, Claire Foy, Alex Jennings, Maggie Smith Director: Nicholas Hytner As quirky as its characters, with an off-center sense of humor and a refusal to take itself too seriously, The Lady in the Van is a showcase for some of Britain's finest screen actors. The unsinkable plays the homeless lady in question.

Invited to park her van for a few weeks in the driveway of British playwright (brought to life with endearing bemusement by ), she stayed for 14 years. Channeling imperious matriarchs (, the films, etc.) has certainly put Marmite on the table for Maggie Smith in her later career. But in recent years — in films such as , and two installments of — she has also created a gallery of crusty yet delicate characters who, for all their outward bombast, touch our hearts with their vulnerability. Here she plays Miss Shepherd, whose sad, curious history reveals itself as the film unfolds. Hers is a poignant tale, but the real attraction is the interplay between Miss Shepherd and her befuddled host. As Bennett — the real-life, Oscar-nominated writer whose memoir inspired the film — Jennings plays a decent chap who is uncomfortable with people under any circumstances, much less with someone tramping through his house to use the bathroom night and day. Smith's Miss Shepherd — gloriously decrepit, endlessly rude, infuriatingly likable — professes to have no use for people at all, yet manages to alienate everyone in the neighborhood with her unremitting neediness. Keep your eyes peeled for an array of master-class actors in minor roles. passes through as a lowlife who's blackmailing Miss Shepherd over a long-held secret; Late Late Show host nails his bit as a fishmonger; Wolf Hall's Anne Boleyn, , plays a social worker; and even Bennett himself turns up, in an ingeniously odd coda where he appears alongside Jennings. Bennett, who wrote the excellent and , adapted the screenplay for The Lady in the Van from his 1999 autobiographical play of the same name (which likewise starred Maggie Smith). Here he resorts to a complex structure — a flashback within a flashback, both nestled inside yet a third remembrance — that initially threatens to lose the viewer. By the same token, his conceit of having Jennings address himself via split screen is a bit twee, and his repeated observation that people of faith are angry, abusive and hypocritical needed to be made only once for us to get the point. On the plus side of the ledger, every scene between the two principals is splendid; their personalities fit together like pieces of scrap lumber whose jagged edges perfectly mesh. Take this Lady for a spin. Bill Newcott is a writer, editor and movie critic for AARP Media. Featured AARP Member Benefits See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures

Close In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails related to AARP volunteering. Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly receive communications related to AARP volunteering. In the meantime, please feel free to search for ways to make a difference in your community at Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again.