Meet Harvey Shine, a middle-aged man who has somehow ended up with a thankless dead-end job and estranged from his family. Then there’s Kate Walker, who feels well on her way to becoming the spinster with 10 cats and an over-needy paranoid mother to bug her 24/7. They meet, eventually learn to tolerate each other, and much much more.
Dustin Hoffman is excellent at playing Harvey, a rather depressed fed-up loser type of character. This man, who once dreamed of becoming a jazz pianist, realises he is being pushed out of the jingle writing business by younger talent just before he flies to England for his daughter’s wedding.
Harvey arrives in Heathrow tired and is rather rude to Kate (Emma Thompson ) who attempts to carry out a questionnaire. However, we know that they will meet again. After discovering that he is on his own in a hotel while the main wedding party is holed up in a fancy house somewhere else Harvey arrives at the rehearsal dinner and suffers embarrassment after embarrassment. His feelings are further hurt when he discovers that his role in his daughter’s wedding is minuscule compared to her step father who has ‘been there’ for her.
Bitterly heartbroken he bumps into Walker who is herself fed up with life, with being set up by friends on countless failed blind dates, and the never ending ringing by her mother. This wannabe writer tolerates Harvey’s subtle advances and infectious humour. A friendship eventually develops and Harvey, with the help of Kate, gains the courage he needs to be a part of his daughter’s special day and to change his life for the better. Afterall, why can’t happiness be real?
At first I thought the movie was going to be a bore but the acting and writing make it a love story which is not over the top. The performances of Hoffman and Thompson are very subdued but this is what is needed as the characters are exactly that until they learn how to live life. I also enjoyed Eileen Atkins, who plays Kate’s mother Maggie Walker. She is convinced her Polish neighbour is an axe-murderer and wastes no time in giving minute-by minute updates. So, the film is full of very subtle humour and dry wit which just works. I even learnt to tolerate the over-Irish character of Oonagh, played by Bronagh Gallagher of the Commitments fame.
Verdict: 4/5
