Is Anybody There?

A bittersweet tale of autumnal years and coming of age in a retirement home with a fantastic lead performance from Michael Caine. Is Anybody There? is a small film with a big heart, albeit in a slightly subversive way. Caine plays Clarence, an elderly former magician railing at the approach of death and still angry at the mistakes he made in his life. When the onset of Alzheimers means that he has to move into a retirement home he meets Edward (Bill Milner, from Son of Rambow), a ten year old boy whose parents run (and live in) the retirement home. Edward is resentful about having to share his childhood with the elderly and infirm, and has an unusual obsession with death and the 'other side'. Despite their initial angst towards one another, Clarence and Edward become fast friends.

This could have been a very depressing film, and in many ways it actually is quite sad, but Bill Milner's earnest and bright-eyed presences gives it a sense of quirky energy, and he strikes a genuine rapport with Michael Caine. The film is told from the point of view of Edward, whose morbid curiosity about the afterlife is chastised by his parents. Clarence's own preoccupation with death means that he understands Edward's interest though, and they form a connection through their shared loneliness despite the generational gap. Caine doesn't shy away from the bleaker aspects of his character, he embraces them wholeheartedly and gives a delightfully curmudgeonly and painfully honest performance - full of wonderfully bitter chestnuts of dialogue like "Let me tell you a secret: being a person is a pain in the arse" and "I like badgers because they're bad-tempered and look good". The supporting cast are equally good, I especially liked David Morrisey as Edward's mullet-sporting dad.

Anyway, this is a good black comedy about old age and death, a film where the darkness makes the brighter moments all the more heartwarming. Caine was brave to tap into his own sense of mortality to convey the indignity of a 'natural' death, and young Bill Milner should be one to watch in years to come.

DIRECTOR: John Crowley
WRITER/SOURCE: Peter Crowley
KEY ACTORS: Michael Caine, Bill Milner, Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey, Elizbabeth Spriggs, Leslie Philips, Sylvia Syms, Rosemary Harris

RELATED TEXTS
- Alzheimers and dementia have also formed the basis of the films Away From Her, Iris and the black comedy Folks!
- Old age and mortality have been dealt with by many texts, but two films that immediately come to mind are Venus and Coccoon.
- Michael Caine doesn't get to do lead roles very often now that he's in his 70s, but he did get to follow up this superb lead turn with another equally good (and vastly different) role in Harry Brown.