Is Anybody There?

An official selection of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival®, the critically lauded Is Anybody There? is a tender portrait of a friendship between an inquisitive ten-year-old boy and a retired magician. Fresh from his 2007 Festival success Boy A, Irish director John Crowley returns to the world of a young boy, infusing his new work with the childish naïveté of a precocious and curious lad named Edward (Bill Milner, Son of Rambow), whose less-than-idyllic home happens to double as a hospice for the aged.

As his parents (Anne-Marie Duff and David Morrissey) struggle to keep the family business afloat, Edward pursues his obsession with the paranormal. Surrounded by the elderly, he is intrigued by death, toting his tape recorder around in an attempt to find clues that will help him understand mortality. With the arrival of the bitter, burned-out Clarence (the indomitable Michael Caine), who unwillingly finds himself an inmate of the hospice, Edward’s interests take on an entirely different dimension. An ex-magician who has stopped practising his trade, Clarence no longer finds positive elements in anything or anyone. The irascible, angry old man is at first barely able to tolerate the young whippersnapper, but it is not long before they are drawn together, two mutual outsiders trying to make sense of the world.

Caine gives a commanding and daring performance as the jaded Clarence, and Milner is a perfect foil as the youngster. This unlikely couple find themselves embroiled in a series of comic misadventures that touch on the deeper questions and mysteries of life. Full of wit, wisdom and wistfulness, Is Anybody There? confronts death and the hereafter with humour and honesty.



CRITICAL NOTES

"Two reasons to watch this small film about the unlikely friendship between an oddball boy and a crotchety old codger: the performances by talented young Bill Milner (reprising the kind of role that won him accolades in Son of Rambow) and the ever-beguiling Michael Caine. The gallows humor of screenwriter Peter Harness and director John Crowley, who approach the anxious subjects of dementia and death with wry compassion, provides both actors unique opportunity to embroider a formulaic script with (pun intended) character." – Rex Roberts, The International Film Journal

"Caine is flawless here, giving audiences one of his finest performances to date."
– Ben Lyons, At the Movies
FILM INFORMATION

Director: John Crowley
Cast: Michael Caine, Bill Milner
Year: 2008
Runtime: 95 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Distributor: E1


Ratings: ON NR / BC NR / AB NR / SK NR / MB NR / QC NR / Maritmes NR

SCREENING DATES AND TIMES 

Jul 19, 2009 
Circuit Centre: Wolfville
Province: Nova Scotia
Circuit Group Name: Fundy Film
Venue:Acadia Cinema, 3 screening times per film
Where else is this film screening in Film Circuit?

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