maggie smith over acted,thought i was watching a stage play by it all. jennings was really good. the be all and end all was much ado about nothing really.at the end i thought well nothings really happened at all,apart from a nutter women with no manners speaking utter incoherence drivvle to decent homeowners.
shareI agree, in a sense. The issue to me isn't so much overacting, as that Smith is expected to convey an emotional quality to a character about which we know pretty much nothing.
Of course that notion of non identity is at the heart of the story, but it makes for poor drama left as it is.
The lack of real story here leads to another problem: the conceit of the two Alan Bennetts. Yes, it is a device to avoid using the conventional narrative voice, because that today is seen as old hat. But Alan Bennett talking to another Alan Bennett is stupidly contrived.
Had there been a proper, interesting, storyline to weave around the bare bones of the facts of the matter, which frankly are not very significant as they stand, Ms Smith might have had something to act about.
Lazy writing in my book.