Nothing Like a Dame (released in the United States, Australia and New Zealand as Tea With the Dames) is a 2018 British documentary film directed by Roger Michell, with Sally Angel serving as executive producer. It was produced by Sally Angel and Karen Steyn. The film documents conversations between actresses Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith (all of whom are Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire) interspersed with scenes from their careers on film and stage.
| Nothing Like a Dame | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Roger Michell |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Eben Bolter[2] |
| Edited by | Joanna Crickmay[2] |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Picturehouse Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom[1] |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3,188,434[3] |
Release
editNothing Like a Dame was released in the United Kingdom on 2 May 2018.[4][5] The film was shown on television in the United Kingdom a few weeks after its initial theatrical release.[1]
Reception
editNothing Like a Dame received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 98% approval rating, based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's consensus reads, "Tea with the Dames proves there's plenty of entertainment value to be found in rounding up a quartet of screen legends for a chat -- and is likely to leave audiences wishing these stars would keep brewing up pots for an ongoing series."[6] On Metacritic, it received a score of 85 out of 100, based on 19 reviews.[7]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a five out of five star rating, declaring it an "outrageously funny film".[8] Guy Lodge of Variety called the film a "richly enjoyable gabfest" but that the film was "hardly vital cinema".[1]
Both Bradshaw and Lodge noted that they wished the film had covered a wider range of topics, such as Time's Up and the MeToo movements.[1][8]
Writing for the New Statesman, Rachel Cooke said, "It was, perhaps, on the long side. Then again, its slow unfurling allowed us to imagine we were eavesdropping. Here was fame, but here, too, was intimacy. Subjects that were discussed: Shakespeare, then and now; husbands, the difficulty of working with; critics, the ghastliness of. Also, the vexed question of beauty. 'We are not in the first rank of beauties,' Plowright said to Atkins, sounding not unlike (a dead dame) Edith Evans – though whenever images of their younger selves flashed up, you begged to differ. Four such extraordinary faces, so sexy and animated."[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Lodge, Guy (21 September 2018). "Film Review: 'Tea With the Dames'". Variety. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ a b c Felperin, Leslie (21 September 2018). "'Tea With the Dames': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ "Tea With The Dames". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ Singh, Anita (12 April 2018). "Nothing Like A Dame trailer: Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright together on film". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Saunders, Tristram Fane (12 April 2018). "Nothing Like a Dame review: Mess with Maggie Smith at your peril". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ "Nothing Like a Dame". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ "Tea with the Dames". Metacritic. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Bradshaw, Peter (26 April 2018). "Nothing Like a Dame review – Judi Dench and Maggie Smith trade brutal banter". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2018/06/nothing-like-a-dame-judi-dench-maggie-smith-review-bbc-two