Product Details

• Actors: Joss Ackland, Brenda Fricker, Joan O'Hara, Vanessa Redgrave, Imelda Staunton
• Directors: Anthony Byrne
• Writers: Maeve Binchy
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Strand Releasing
• DVD Release Date: April 21, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001QLKI18
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,001 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "How About You" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Strand Releasing Release Date: 04/21/2009 Run time: 90 minutes Rating: Ur

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Performances & A Pretty Good Movie, April 25, 2009

By 

D. Hupp "Hup234" (Woodbridge, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How About You (DVD)

I enjoyed this amusing UK production and recommend it to those who appreciate the acting of Vanessa Redgrave and such solid performers as Joss Ackland, Brenda Fricker and Imelda Staunton.

At first, the story seemed a bit disjointed, but, upon further reflection, I found the first and last parts of the story to be revealing about the 2 main characters, Kate and Ellie. The first part of the movie focused mostly on the relationship between sisters Kate (Orla Brady), the owner of a rural home for seniors, and young, rebellious Ellie (Hayley Atwell). Kate has worked hard to establish her "home" as an efficient, reputable place for seniors to live. Ellie has lived in more of a free-spirited way.

While the sisters portray rather convincingly that they have a long-standing bond between them, naturally their opposite lifestyles and values lead to conflicts. Kate gives her sister a chance to earn some much needed income by working at the senior-living home, but they find themselves at odds about how some of the more difficult residents should be treated, especially the 4 surly characters played by Redgrave, Ackland, Fricker and Staunton, and that leads to some of the more humorous scenes in this steady paced movie.

Some viewers might consider the pace of the movie to be too slow, but I did not. Rather it seemed that the first part helped to establish the personas of the main characters and to prepare viewers for what was to come in the rest of the story. In all fairness, the film's pace seems to help better understand the natures of the characters, but I think that could have been done more quickly.

The rest of the movie had a decidedly more upbeat tone and pace to it and provided several light-hearted, humorous scenes. Viewers get to see and enjoy some of Ellie's better qualities as she establishes a very different atmosphere and relationship with the 4 troublesome residents entrusted to her care during a sudden, unexpected leave of absence by Kate during the Christmas holidays.

That being said I did think the movie would have been more enjoyable if a few things had been done differently by the director and/or screenwriter. Kate's sudden leave of absence seemed to have been treated almost superficially. It just seemed to lack emotional impact, especially on the more "conscientious" Kate. I do not consider this to be a serious "flaw". In fact, it might underscore the main emphasis of the story to be about Kate's and Ellie's differences and their decidedly different influence on the residents.

Ellie's decision to move on in her life and part company from Kate at the end of the story again seemed a bit too abrupt to me. Perhaps the writer and director preferred to emphasize Ellie as the free spirit who derives as much or more enjoyment from the "fruits" of spontaneity and forthrightness and to further differentiate her character from Kate's as the more staid and emotionally involved with her work and the residents of the home.

The only part of the story that seemed to add little to the story was the persistent emphasis on smoking dope -- not only by the rebellious Ellie but also as a way of her encouraging the seniors to ease their struggles with aging, alienation and even impending death. This aspect of the story did not lessen my overall enjoyment of the movie, but I regard it as a simplistic and frivolous dimension to these more existential life issues.

All in all, I give this production 3.5 stars out of 5.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars its what it isn't that makes this film great, November 14, 2009

By 

Jason A. Gagnon (Cobleskill, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How About You (DVD)

This isn't a movie about old people in a nursing home being sparked back to life by the edgy young person who reminds them what it means to be young- and thank goodness for that!

All the traditional ingredients are here for just that film, but this movie does something different- it lets old people be old people. The "edgy young person" doesn't get them to embrace life by reminding them what it is to be young, she does it by pointing out to them that they are awful human beings and to recognize the humanity in each other,and in her.

This is a gem of a movie and its only real weakness is that the end comes up on you a bit suddenly. Solid acting, inspiring, and with a good moral- fine for families as it only has a bit of rough language and most of that not of a variety that would bother American ears.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look into old age and "family", October 2, 2011

By 

Taka Stewart "Price Shopping Granny" (Independence, KS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How About You (Amazon Instant Video)

Different elements of the young and the old come into play in this movie and mesh wonderfully with a look at different families and the past and present lives of those in a "old person's home". Add in a young woman with a heart who takes time to listen and gets to know the residents and makes them face who they have become and what they are missing in each other. A feel good movie.