La dame à la camionnette

L'humour, les dialogues, les personnages, bref l'ensemble, aussi prévisible qu'une peinture à numéros, sent le labeur de l'écriture.

Proche du Soloist de Joe Wright, The Lady in the Van est un peu ce à quoi aurait dû ressembler le raté Autrui de Micheline Lanctôt : une oeuvre simple, humaine et pleine de lumière qui est axée sur les personnages et qui rappelle que des comportements aussi nobles que l'écoute et l'amitié peuvent secourir des âmes en détresse et prisonnières de leur passé ou de la société.

The results are as assured as you might expect, with further verisimilitude provided by shooting the film on the very street and inside the actual house in which the real events took place.

Maggie Smith saves the day in this story of a British vagrant living in her car.

Not everyone recoils from The Lady in the Van the way I do. It apparently plays well with older audiences and some critics praise its abiding sweetness.

Before watching The Lady in the Van, be forewarned that you're about to be subjected both verbally and, more regretfully, visually to the none-too-tidy lavatory habits of an elderly British vagrant who resides in her vehicle and rarely has an actual bathroom at her disposal.  

A grandly ornery Maggie Smith is the chief draw in this slight, innocuously enjoyable adaptation of Alan Bennett's memoir.