This is a rather excellent made for TV drama following the relationship of two elderly widowers who become unlikely house mates after the deaths of their wives. The cast reuniting Albert Finney with Tom Courtenay and also featuring the lovely Joanna Lumley in a substantial supporting role is excellent and their performances alone make the film worth watching. Anybody stumbling across it because of the involvement of Rosamund Pike (who does make her screen debut in this) will likely be disappointed. Her appearance doesn't amount to more than a couple of very short cameos and line or two of spoken dialogue.
Albert Finney delivers a very enjoyable performance as the pompous ex-RAF officer Reggie Conyngham-Jervis (left in unexpectedly strained circumstances after the death of his wife) who suggests his new house mate call him Squadron Leader while he intends to call the other man, a retired milkman and fellow WW2 veteran, merely by his last name, Southgate. Tom Courtenay is the well adjusted and kindly Roy Southgate, and he is equally excellent. It's a joy to see these two veterans of British stage and screen working together. When Southgate moves into his large house, Conyngham-Jervis is condescending and treats him like a servant. As more is revealed about both their pasts and families, their relationship develops in a perhaps predictable yet very engaging way.
The ever enjoyable Joanna Lumley plays a glamourous lady of a certain age who befriends Conyngham-Jervis. Just like him, she is not all she seems. While he is genuinely smitten with her, she is looking for financial security. Several tragic events show everybody in their true colour.
The film is actually much more entertaining and enjoyable (with a mild feelgood factor) than I expected given the subject matter. It's a quiet drama with well developed characters and outstanding performances from the two leads and Lumley. Highly recommended if this kind of drama appeals to you.
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