Variety
Celebrates the vitality of those whose time in the spotlight has passed, casting a handful of legends who are still going strong in their eighth decades.
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Quartet
Billy Connolly, Dame Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon star in this comedy about a retired group of opera singers who put on a fund-raising concert to keep their home running. This is the directorial debut of screen legend Dustin Hoffman, an adaptation of the stageplay by Ronald Harwood.
Lifelong friends Wilf (Connolly), Reggie (Tom Courtenay) and Cissy (Pauline Collins) are residents of Beecham House, a home for retired opera singers. Every year on Giuseppe Verdi’s birthday, the residents unite to give a concert and raise funds. But things derail when Jean (Smith) - a former grande dame of opera fallen on hard times, also Reggie’s ex-wife and the fourth and most celebrated member of their former quartet - moves in. As old grudges threaten to undermine past glories and theatrical temperaments play havoc with the rehearsal schedule, it becomes apparent that having four of the finest singers in English operatic history under one roof offers no guarantee that the show will go on.
Less2012Rating: M, contains offensive language98 minsUK
ComedyDrama
- Director:
- Dustin Hoffman (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Ronald Harwood
- Cast:
- Billy ConnollyMaggie SmithMichael GambonSheridan SmithPauline CollinsTom CourtenayJumayn HunterLuke Newberry
Quartet | Reviews
80%147 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
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The Guardian
Hoffman has delivered a love letter to the elderly thesps of his adoptive country. We can forgive him its falsehoods.
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Los Angeles Times
Very much a performance piece, which plays to Hoffman's strength - as an actor he knows when to allow this excellent ensemble breathing room and when to tighten the belt.
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Quartet | Release Details
Quartet is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV and Beamafilm.