The lady doth protest too much

The reputation _The Lady in the Van _has gained in the run up to its release can perhaps be best illustrated by the fact that during a recent phone-call to my grandma – a woman in her late 80s whose closest cinema is the civic centre, where all films are released 3 months later than anywhere else – she mentioned that she was very excited to go and see it. This is what happens when you blend together director Nicholas Hynter, actor Maggie Smith, and playwright Alan Bennett: you get a national treasure smoothie, palatable to all.

But while this may be the reputation the film is conjuring up, the actual product is far from populist. Maggie Smith plays Miss Shepherd, an elderly vagabond with a past, whose malodorous presence inflames Mornington Crescent’s residents’ liberal guilt and innate disgust in equal measure. Taking up residence in Alan Bennett’s driveway, she remains there for 15 years, much to the chagrin of neighbours. Alex Jennings is well cast as Bennett, retaining the Yorkshire playwright’s social mannerisms that have become so well established over the years, but Maggie Smith is the real star of the show; her character is certainly sympathetic, but Smith never lets this spill over into sentimentality, a permanent sneer etched around her mouth.

Certain aspects of the film don’t quite work: a backstory involving a sinister figure from Shepherd’s past would be better left out, and the idea to have two versions of Alan Bennett’s character – the writer and the man – does not work as well as it could have, although it is an interesting touch. Hytner, fresh from his tenure at the National Theatre, where he directed Maggie Smith in the first stage performance of The Lady in the Van, does a very good job at conjuring up the complex social interactions for which the North London elite have become famous. It is a film that goes down smooth, leaving a sensation of warm contentment – definitely one you can take the granny to.

Verdict: 3.5 Stars