HAMPSTEAD
Director: Joel Hopkins
Cast: Diane Keaton, Brendan Gleeson, Lesley Manville, Hugh Skinner, Jason Watkins, Peter Singh, James Norton, Simon Callow
Rating: (PG)
Four and a half stars (out of five)
The other was Diane Keaton who, since her triumph in Something’s Gotta Give (2003), has created a niche for herself in retiree romantic comedies.
I was expecting something of a "guilty pleasure" movie, during which I would thoroughly enjoy myself, all the while knowing the film was not that good.
There is an element of that, because this is a film made for very specific tastes; but if you share those tastes, it is just one gigantic hug.
Keaton flounces around wearing Keaton-esque clothing (some of which is her own), which is treat for those of us who admire her style, and Hampstead village and the upper heath look quaint and delightfully British.
The thing I struggled with before seeing Hampstead (Rialto) was the romance between Keaton (Emily) and Brendan Gleeson’s character Donald Horner, a man who squats on the heath in a ramshackle hut.
Much to my surprise it was an amazingly effective piece of casting; watching them bounce off each other in time-honoured romantic-comedy fashion is positively delightful.
Hampstead a is super sweet treat for us dyed-in-the-wool romantics.
- Christine Powley
