The Lady in the Van

"Low on narrative drive, and marred by a misjudged final-act swerve into extravagant whimsy, Nicholas Hytner’s amiable luvvie-fest is enlivened by Smith’s signature irascibility."

"A wonderful Maggie Smith plays all this dead straight, poker-faced for maximum laughs."

"In Ms. Smith's tough, levelheaded performance, Mary is an irascible termagant full of batty notions clutching on to life as best she can. She is hard to like, and that's good."

"Smith’s performance, honed from the previous stage and radio versions, is terrifically good."

"Bennett offers Maggie Smith a chance to renovate her own recent persona with a woman who's heroically alive. Smith takes it with both hands, giving us more of the loneliness and despair of old age than the glib comedy."

"It's fun to watch Shepherd hate on bratty children, classical music and liberal pieties."

"A delicately written, boisterously performed movie about the difficult people who dare us to care about them."

"On the surface, The Lady in the Van is mild to a fault but - like its author - it is powered by sharp observations about life and people."

"It's Smith's eccentric oldster who is the film's driving force, and the 80-year-old actress doesn't disappoint."

"Its droll sense of sentiment makes up significantly for its so-slight smugness. A minor gem."

"Unshowy to a fault, Hytner delivers a fine, moving comedy of English manners..."