Is Anybody There?

The basic setup of cantankerous old man and lonely child often produces appallingly sentimental films. Luckily young Eddie's preoccupation with death, and what comes afterwards, prevent matters becoming too twee. The residents of the old people's home run by his parents might be cookie-cutter eccentric but they inevitably die. Clarence meanwhile is astonishingly rude to everyone, especially Eddie (who reciprocates) but you know immediately that the two will bond. The 80s setting meanwhile is spot-on: Eddie's dad in particular is a sartorial disaster zone. The plot is eminently predictable but the pathos and humour are neatly balanced. Eddie, thankfully, never becomes "cute" while Michael Caine is excellent as Clarence, a man who can see the end approaching but is weighed down by both regrets and a fading mind.