The Lady in the Van (2015)

A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her car that's parked in his driveway. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Nicholas Hytner
Written By: Alan Bennett
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Maggie Smith, Stephen Campbell Moore, Russell Tovey, Alex Jennings, Frances de la Tour, Marion Bailey, Samuel Barnett, Jamie Parker, Gwen Taylor
Country: UK
Where to Stream
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The Lady in the Van belongs to 6 collections
1. Netflix Sverige (public: moderated by Jakobostgren - 1 star)
2. 35th İstanbul Film Festival (public: moderated by cambel)
3. 73rd Golden Globe Nominees - 2015 (public: moderated by BeeDub)
4. Available on Starz (private: Jason212 - 1 star)
5. Curzon Ripon (private: mandy)
6. CIFF 2015 (private: Matthew Parkinson)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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benoliver999 | 50 29% |
An enjoyable but disappointingly shallow 100 minutes that needs to rely on more than just star power and a 'true story' label.
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Okkervil | 58 48% |
I like Bennett and there's just enough little nuggets of him at his best here. Efforts to force drama onto what should've been a simple comedy don't work and at times it's somewhat laborious. Smith and Jennings are both very fine though, and although much of the complaints about this film often seem to centre around how unlikable the characters are, I found them to be comfortingly the opposite in an odd British kind of way. In fact the more I reflect on this one, the more I quite like it.
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1 | doughbaron | 66 39% |
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This could have made an interesting short film but feels bloated as a feature, which might explain some of the ridiculous side "personalities" of Mr Bennett.
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1 | damil | 50 25% |
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Maggie Smith's fun but I didn't really like the movie. I found the characters quite unlikable. It all felt pretentious, clunky & irritating. It all made sense when I found out that the screenplay was written by the author of the book/protagonist in the film. It became clear how self-indulgent & masturbatory so much of it was. The story at the heart of it - about the lady in the van - is good, but most of the rest of it was tiresome & not enjoyable. A waste of a potentially good movie.
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ribcage | 33 11% |
weak because it's not Shepherd's story. It's the story of an author using a person's life to put words on a page. But missing the darkness that would make such a tale engaging, still trying to fake being the woman's tale. It's repeated in the film that Bennett is "of two minds" and I agree. There's two minds to this film and they never converge.
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eCitizen | 20 8% |
Was this supposed to show how kind & tolerant the British people are? There was absolutely nothing charming about this obnoxious old woman. The man letting her squat in his front yard lacked any sort of a backbone. There is nothing admirable about his living in a fantasy world & accepting her foul disrespect year after year. It is not endearing nor heartwarming for a crazy old biddy to take dumps in your front yard, stinking up every place she goes & forever act the fool. Absolute rubbish!
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amazedemon | 63 39% |
Strong performances from Smith and Jennings, and a few thoroughly amusing moments. Unfortunately, it's all rather pedestrian; the characters are majoritively unlikable and it goes on a little too long.
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Average Percentile 41.27% from 282 Ratings | ![]() |