Whatever the questions raised by her presence, Julia is right here now, availing of the NHS in her time of want after being identified with stage 4 colon most cancers. (There’s commentary within the thought of a rich American selecting a humble English clinic over a well-known American hospital, however this film isn’t that astute. As an alternative, it makes an excuse about Julia doing a play within the West Finish.) At first, she’s upset that the hospital doesn’t have non-public rooms, as a result of she is very well-known and desires her privateness. She makes some loud, impolite telephone calls to this impact, inflicting the three ladies sitting within the frequent space to smile and giggle just like the mischievous most cancers elves that they’re. A transformative afternoon is afoot.
The one actually likable ingredient of the movie is its supporting solid, led by dependable British character actresses Miriam Margoyles and Sally Phillips. (Each have too many credit to recount right here, however you’ll know them whenever you see them.) They play Judy and Mikey, salt-of-the-earth sorts immediately doomed to supporting standing as soon as the extra glamorous Julia walks in. “Intercourse Schooling’s” Rakhee Thakrar co-stars as Imaan, the youngest affected person in Judy and Mikey’s chemotherapy espresso klatsch; Imaan was 26 and pregnant when she was identified with breast most cancers, however her arc is proscribed by the author’s and administrators’ blinkered concepts about Muslim ladies.
Co-director Sharon Maymom gained an Academy Award for the quick movie “Pores and skin,” one of many extra controversial winners in latest reminiscence—not least due to its clumsy grasp on racial politics. Fortunately, that ingredient is comparatively mild right here. However “My Glad Ending” makes loads of unhealthy choices in different areas. The screenplay is very clunky: The exposition and dialogue are ineptly dealt with, a lot so {that a} character might be fully unaware of a subject in a single scene and converse confidently about it within the subsequent. The snappy Hollywood insider discuss coming from Julia’s devoted supervisor Nancy (Tamsin Grieg), rings false, and the movie declares relatively than demonstrates that Julia’s presence has modified everybody’s life for the higher. MacDowell, for her half, purses her lips to look involved and softens her eyes till they’re filled with benevolent tears.
