IS ANYBODY THERE? (2008) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: John Crowley
Michael Caine, Bill Milner, Anne-Marie Duff,
David Morrissey, Peter Vaughan, Leslie Phillips,
Sylvia Sims, Linzey Cocker, Rosemary Harris
An old magician (Michael Caine) moves into a retirement home where he befriends the 12-year-old son of the couple who run the place. The magician is losing his memory. The boy is obsessed with ghosts. The old man knows he's fading and he's fighting it off, looking back on a life filled with love and regret. The kid knows more about death than most 12-year-olds, and wants to know what comes next. The movie leans toward sweetness at times, and if Caine's cantankerous performance doesn't entirely offset that, he at last makes you not mind too much.
