DVD Review: From Time to Time

This article was first published at Blogcritics

Given the current hoopla around his smash hit series Downton Abbey, there is probably not a better time to be releasing Julian Fellowes' 2009 adaptation of Lucy  M. Boston's young adult novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe, From Time to Time. Not only does the film feature a number of the Downton actors, but the film is shot in Athelhampton House, one of those monumental old mansions that have been the settings for Fellowes' best known work. Unfortunately, From Time to Time, while not without merit, doesn't quite measure up to Downton Abbey or Gosford Park. 

Set in England in 1944 with the war in Europe winding down, 13 year old Tolly is sent to live on the family's decaying country estate with his estranged paternal grandmother while his mother tries to get information about his father who is missing in action.  Things get complicated when Tolly discovers that the house is haunted by the spirits of some of his ancestors from 1809.  Not only can they appear to him in 1944, but he is able to join them in 1809.  He can aid them in their troubles; they can help him with his.  From Time to Time then is both a ghost story and a time travel story. 

It is a testament to Fellowes' abilities as a writer and as a director that he can even manage to get you to buy into the story's fantasy long enough to suspend disbelief, let alone take it seriously.  Certainly the film makes a serious attempt to say something about dealing with loss and the importance of family, but it gets lost in the complications of the narrative.  There is simply too much going on for any real impact. 

Still there is a top notch cast, and their performances are strong.  Led by the matriarch of British actors, Maggie Smith as Tolly's grandmother Linnet, the cast brings life to the fantasy.  Smith is admirable as a woman struggling to connect with her grandson while facing the possible loss of her son.  Alex Etel is effective as Tolly, even as he struggles some to keep up with Dame Maggie.  Timothy Spall, of Harry Potter fame, is Boggis, gardener, handy man and general factotum.  Pauline Collins is Miss Tweedle, the cook and general servant. 

The 1809 segments feature Hugh Bonneville as Captain Oldknow the well meaning head of the family, a character not much different than the Earl of Grantham and  Dominic West (The Wire) as the villainous butler, Caxton.  Unfortunately, the script gives them little opportunity to stretch their talents.  Eliza Bennett is Susan, Oldknow's blind young daughter and Kwayedza Kureya is Jacob an escapee from a slave market saved by the Captain and brought back to England to be his daughter's companion and eyes.  Downton's Alan Leech has a small part as one of the Boggis ancestors.

In some respects it is the house itself that is the star of the film. It is almost as if the house has a life of its own.  "It's a funny old house," Boggis tells Tolly.  And when the RAF is leaving the house which they have commandeered as their headquarters, the officer in charge explains that they were careful not to leave it in bad shape.  "The house wouldn't let us," he says.  More often than not, when houses are treated as living entities--The Haunting of Hill House, "The Fall of the House of Usher"—they are associated with evil, not so here.  It is a house with secrets and the unraveling of those secrets is the key to the story.  The house, though haunted and decaying, is the symbol of the family's roots, the glue that will keep them united through the ages.

TV Review: Downton Abbey

This article was first published at Blogcritics

Whoever thinks there is any truth to the idea that you can put lipstick on a pig, but you can't. . . .had better think again.  Some pigs not only wear their lipstick well, it turns out they get a lot of people forgetting their porcine roots entirely.  Two cases in point:  first, there is the British import just premiering its second season in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre, Downton Abbey; second there is the homegrown award winning series recently announcing its breathlessly awaited fifth season, Mad Men.  Turns out you can take what has been one of the least respected TV genres, the oft ridiculed soap opera, set it back in the past, dress it up with some fancy period costumes, and viewers will not only eat it up, but so will critics, and when push comes to shove, they'll win themselves an award or two.  People who wouldn't have been caught dead watching General Hospital or As the World Turns will be tuned into PBS with breath baited.  They will be looking forward to March, the announced date for the return of Mad Men, with feverish anticipation.

And I must confess not only was a sitting in front of my television for the arrival of the Downton Crawleys and their servants, but my own temperature elevated considerably at the news of Don Draper's imminent return.  Moreover, as far as the return of Downton Abbey is concerned, I wasn't disappointed.  It is two years later, and WWI is raging.  The episode opens on the Somme in the midst of the battle.  Clearly the stakes for the new season have been raised.  Social issues remain front and center, but now they are played out against a background of life and death.  The right dress for dinner and who serves important as it is is less important than it might have been two years earlier.  Class divisions are beginning to break down more rapidly.  The new world that was beginning in the first series is gathering steam.

There are still those who aren't ready to accept it.  The irascible dinosaurs like the Dowager Countess of Grantham, played with a knowing gleam by Maggie Smith and the faithful butler, Mr. Carson may not  be quite ready to deal with the new order.  But, if it was only Matthew Crawley, the unwilling heir to the estate, who seemed to be ready for the changing social values in the first series, now there is a whole crew of converts.  Lady Sybil takes up nursing.  Lady Edith learns to drive and takes a hand in some local farming.  A chauffer can even look to make advances to the daughter of the house, and a lady kiss a farmer.  This, after all, is not a social tract.

To be sure, the major story lines are picked up with relish.  Matthew is now engaged, but Lady Mary has clearly had second thoughts about him.  Another romantic entanglement seems inevitable, despite new attachments showing up for each of them. Bates and Anna begin making plans for their future until his estranged wife shows up to make waves and the honorable valet sacrifices himself for the honor of the Granthams.  We can only hope, along with Anna, for his return. The duplicitous lady's maid O'Brien and the scheming ex-footman Thomas are working their way up to their old tricks. The dowager will continue to try to run things for the family, and Lady Grantham will assert herself gently.  It is the war, however, that dominates the first episode—the horror of battle, efforts on the home front, patriotic fervor and craven cowardice.  It looks to be a promising season: world shaping events with a dollop or two of soap.

Let's hope that Mad Men's return slated for March is as auspicious.  Those of us who have been feeding our addiction replaying the first four seasons on Neflix are impatient for news.  What happens to Don and Megan? Does the agency make it past the Lucky Strike disaster?  Will Betty and Henry stay together?  What happens. . . . well, there are a lot of questions, and like any good soap opera, if you can keep your audience salivating with anticipation, you've done your job.  Downton Abbey has done it; Mad Men  has been doing it for four seasons, there's no reason to suppose they won't continue.