Is Anybody There?

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  • Opened April 17, 2009 
  • 1 hr 32 min
  • PG-13 | sexual references, some disturbing images and language

  • Set in 1980s seaside England, "Is Anybody There?" tells the story of ten-year-old Edward (Bill Milner) whose parents have turned their house into a retirement home. While his mother struggles to keep the family business afloat and his father copes with the onset of a mid-life crisis, Edward becomes increasingly obsessed with the ghosts and afterlives of the residents when they die. Edward’s is a lonely existence until he meets Clarence (Michael Caine), the latest arrival at the home, a retired magician and grieving widower who refuses to give in gracefully to old age. Their relationship begins at odds until Clarence notices that the boy is growing up even more fitfully than he is growing old. As they begin to face life together, Clarence comes to terms with his past, Edward tames his obsession with the unknown and they are both reminded of what magic is possible when life is lived to its fullest. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Michael Caine, Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey, Rosemary Harris, Elizabeth Spriggs, Bill Milner
  • Director: John Crowley
  • Genres: Art House/Foreign, Drama

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Critic Reviews

75
Rolling Stone
| Peter Travers

Blending humor and heartbreak in a performance that makes a small movie a richly satisfying one, Caine truly is magic. Read full review

70
The Hollywood Reporter
| Michael Rechtshaffen

While Caine and young Milner make for amusing adversaries, it's nice to see Crowley paying respect to his elders by populating the retirement home with a number of familiar faces, including those belonging to Rosemary Harris, Sylvia Syms and longtime "Coronation Street" resident Thelma Barlow. Read full review

63
New York Post
| Lou Lumenick

All-too-familiar and schmaltzy territory for both coming-of-age films and movies with elderly actors. Read full review

63
Miami Herald
| Connie Ogle

You don't need a Ouija board to suss out where all this is heading, but Is Anybody There? counteracts its deficiencies -- predictability, sentimentality -- with a healthy dose of dark humor. Read full review

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Bill Milner in "Is Anybody There?"