Product Details

• Actors: Michael Gambon, Lindsay Duncan, Matthew Macfadyen, Claire Skinner, Toby Stephens
• Format: PAL, Import
• Language: English
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: BBC
• Run Time: 238 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000057PKJ

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely and Amazing, December 1, 2005

By 

Cheryl A. Lightfoot "cal331" (Toledo, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Strangers [Region 2] (DVD)

I was lucky enough to catch this amazing miniseries when it aired on BBC America some years ago. I would love to see it again, and would gladly purchase it were it available. Every performance in this captivating tale of various branches of a far-flung family, congregating for a once-in-a-lifetime reunion, is a good one, every intertwining story is fascinating in its own right. The ending is breathtaking, for all its apparent simplicity. This is the series that brought Matthew MacFadyen (Spooks, Pride and Prejudice) to my attention. He is fantastic in this series. It should not be missed.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High-class soap . . ., October 18, 2006

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Strangers (DVD)

This 3-part production from the BBC is chiefly for fans of high-class soap. While intended to be full of ironies about the dubious pride we take in being related to notable people (especially when they're glamorous, upper class, and wealthy), the central story line is a series of revelations - all of them family secrets - that turn out to be more mysteriously promising in their expectation than they are in fact.

The performances make it all watchable. Michael Gambon is in top form as a curmudgeonly black sheep of the family (with comparisons early on to his cranky and embittered Singing Detective) and Lindsay Duncan as a beautiful, eternally sad woman of certain years who carries an unspoken grief with unfailing dignity. Together, they make a compelling contrast, and you wish the story had more to do with their relationship. Alas, it follows the adventures of his twenty-something son (Matthew Macfadyen), who takes a shine to two upper-crust cousins, while bedding one of them and finally meddling in family affairs that are beyond his simple wish to have age-old animosities resolved.

Writer-director Stephen Poliakoff provides a commentary for the film, revealing the experiences from his own life used as source material for the dramatic situations and characters he has created, plus observations on the film's production, locations used (like Claridge's) and other off-camera matters. A short featurette includes additional comments by Poliakoff and a few members of the cast.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!, April 24, 2007

By 

F. S. L'hoir (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Strangers (DVD)

In "Almost Strangers," Stephen Poliakoff weaves a subtle spell. I recall thoroughly enjoying the engaging story and the superb acting--I mean, one can't beat Michael Gambon, Matthew Macfadyen, and Toby Stephens--when, totally unawares, I had become so entranced with the stories within the story of an extended family, that I had to watch all 237 minutes of it at one sitting.

Since the story is told from the point of view of Daniel (the son of the black sheep of the clan), who knows very little about the rest of the family, the viewer is put into a similar position, first of discomfort, as he moves from stereotypes, finally of fascinated affection, as he slowly unravels the secrets not only of his family but also of his own past.

Nor do the writers disappoint; all the clues deftly planted in the first scenes of the film, are revealed in a magical ending.