This was a strong and moving movie. In fact, it even made me both a bit upset and a bit depressed - because Miss Hearne's fate in upper middle age, was my own big fear before I met my husband and had my children. Not until I had two children I felt reasonably safe. This was because like Miss Hearne I had no siblings, and where she had only an old aunt, who later died, I had my parents - but they were also old and I knew that half my life I would live without them...

Miss Hearne's sad and lonely life, waiting for Mr Right who she as a young girl pictured as "tall, dark, and handsome" (well - what girl hasn't..?), in time lowering her expectations more and more, and seeking comfort in religion as well as the bottle - is only too common also in real life.

The acting was excellent all around, as was the picture of the time, and the melancholy mood created by bleak photo and classical music both beautiful and sad.

I really recommend this movie, but with one exception: if you are yourself in the same situation as Miss Hearse - then maybe you should not watch it. Because it is the opposite of feel-good, and can make you only sadder.

Maggie Smith is terrific playing an unmarried, unloved woman--who prays AND drinks with equal abandon--falling for a jovial working-class guy who is dating her because he thinks she's wealthy. Actors' piece about midlife romance and misunderstandings, adapted from Brian Moore's novel by Peter Nelson, is careful and leisurely-paced, unfolding without much melodramatic fuss. The acting by Smith and Bob Hoskins is enjoyable, but the screenplay has nowhere to turn in the second-act, and just goes around in circles. Director Jack Clayton admirably takes his time letting this story take shape, but the movie keeps going long after the story seems completed. ** from ****

I've been trying to find this movie for years, remembering the acclaim at the time of its release that Maggie Smith got, playing a character far different than anybody she's ever played before. She's an Irish Catholic, devoted to the memory of her abusive dead aunt (Wendy Hiller) who keeps moving from boarding house to boarding house with two pictures, one of Aunt Wendy, the other of Jesus, and desperately searching for romance. She doesn't pick the proper boarding house for an aging spinster with nosy landlady Marie Kean and her extremely perverted son (Ian McNeice), an obese slob who is seducing the 16 year old servant girl and pretty much harassing every tenant with his slimy manner. Reminding me of Charles Laughton in "Sign of the Cross", he is an effeminate (but straight) do-nothing who can be simply referred to as a waste of human space. Poor Judith has to put up with his innuendos, from rubbing a book of poetry on his crotch upon their first meeting to his attempt at blackmail upon learning of her friendship with his very American uncle (Bob Hoskins).

Judith has been spending time with Hoskins who has no romantic interest in her, only trying to convince Judith to invest with him in an American hamburger stand in the middle of Dublin. His rejection of her passion sends Judith to the bottle, and from there, her descent into degradation and alcholism is more shocking than everything you've ever seen the fabulous Dame Maggie play. She gives her all to making this character beyond pitiable, yet you can't help but like her. Obviously verbally abused by her wealthy Aunt, Judith has absolutely no self esteem, even if she finally gets to stand up to her aunt and remind her that nobody else is around to take care of her.

As for Hoskins, he's no angel either, obviously raping the 16 year old out of pure resentment towards his nephew. The first quarter of the movie is almost unbearable to watch because of its perverseness, but once Maggie's plight takes over, you can't help but be hooked. She's got a huge heart, as evidenced by taking a bottle to the hospital where a dying woman in pain needs some comfort, and her embarrassment over being caught. She then sinks further into desolation, and like Catherine Sloper in "The Heiress", is re-visited by Hoskins who makes one last plea to get her back into his life. This is Dame Maggie's film all the way, and while the depressing aspects of the film are sometimes very hard to take, her performance never is.

What is also very important to notice in this film is the character's devotion to her faith and her feeling that God has betrayed her for not bringing love into her life. For her, love is more than just finding companionship: it is her only bearable lightness of being. Her relationship with God and Jesus are so precious that when her lack of passion explodes into anger, it is a frightening scene of "Why have you forsaken me?" How many people (even those of strong religious faith) have not questioned the existence of God? Her attack on the alter of the Catholic church is as prominent in Dame Maggie's career as when she screamed "Assassin!" at the teenage girl who ruined her career in "Miss Jean Brodie".