In the movies there are plenty of examples of crotchety old men who find a new lease on life thanks to a plucky younger woman. In As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson's spiteful novelist perks up because of Helen Hunt's suffer-no-fools waitress. A nineteen-year-old Lauren Bacall romanced a jaded 45-year-old Humphrey Bogart in To Have or Have Not. And a seventy-something Peter O'Toole found inspiration in a troublemaking teenager played by Jodie Whittaker in Venus. Now Terence Stamp and Gemma Arterton join their ranks in the British dramedy Unfinished Song.
Formerly known as Song for Marion, the movie written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams marks a departure for the filmmaker best known for thrillers like London to Brighton and Cherry Tree Lane. This spirited offering stars Stamp as a cantankerous retiree who joins a local choir because of the wish of his ailing wife, played by Vanessa Redgrave. Arterton, who will soon hit theaters in Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters, portrays the chorus's director, who urges her octogenarian singers to embrace more modern tracks, like Salt-N-Pepa's "Let's Talk About Sex."
Check out the trailer below, and see it in HD over on Yahoo:
With senior citizens busting moves and gearing up for a big concert, Unfinished Song seems reminiscent of the charming documentary Young @ Heart, which focused on the titular Massachusetts chorus. That own its own is enough to spark my interest, but it certainly helps that Stamp is always entertaining in grouch mode. Then there's that sly smile that is remarkably heartwarming.
Unfinished Song made its world premiere last September at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, and will make its theatrical debut February 8th in the United Kingdom and the United States. Releases will follow in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Argentina and Denmark.
