Product Details

• Actors: Michael Caine, Bill Milner, David Morrissey
• Directors: John Crowley
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002LBKE0C
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,708 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Is Anybody There?" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Seventy-six-year-old Michael Caine and 13-year-old Bill Milner (Son of Rambow) make a fine comedy-drama team in Is Anybody There?, a touching if predictable story about taking a chance on human contact in a sea of loneliness, regret and death. Caine plays Clarence, a retired magician forced to take up residence in a home for seniors. Despite his anger and indignation, Clarence establishes a relationship with Edward (Milner), the only child of a financially-strapped couple who reluctantly turned their home into a care facility. Surrounded by old people who die off with some frequency, Edward develops a fascination with the afterlife and ghosts. For a while, Clarence humors him, particularly in a memorable séance scene where the old man applies his illusionist skills to entertain Edward. But, for the most part, Clarence spends his time trying to draw Edward out of his morbid fixation and accept--as Clarence has with some cynicism--that when life comes to an end, that's it. Director John Crowley (Boy A) does not avoid the tougher elements of this relationship story, particularly the way Edward has to watch Clarence slowly disintegrate, a broken man seeking forgiveness for all the things he considers unforgivable. But Crowley also has fun with the crazy life pool of Edward's house--the gaggle of elders who sing together and watch television and dance. The supporting cast includes some very familiar faces: Rosemary Harris (Spider-Man), Sylvia Sims, Leslie Phillips. Predictable as Is Anybody There? can be at times, the final act takes a surprising turn and is truly moving. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Ten-year-old Edward lives in his family-run retirement home. While his mother struggles to keep the family business afloat and his father copes
with the onset of a mid-life crisis, Edward leads an increasingly lonely existence until he meets Clarence (Michael Caine), a retired magician and grieving widower, who refuses to give in gracefully to old age. The two strike up an unlikely friendship which helps them both remember that magic is possible when life is lived to its fullest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Michael Caine Fans Give the Movie an Extra Star, May 13, 2009

By	Stephanie DePue (Carolina Beach, NC USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Is Anybody There? [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

"Is Anybody There" is a 2008 production of British Broadcasting Corporation Films that has achieved a theatrical, art house release in the United States. It runs 95 minutes, was written by Peter Harness, directed by John Crowley, and stars that wonderful actor Michael Caine.

It is set in 1980's seaside England: it looks/sounds like the North of England to me, and concerns the interactions of Caine, playing the Amazing Clarence (Parkinson), retired magician, unwillingly taking up residence in an old people's home; and Edward (Bill Milner), an unusual ten year old boy who's fascinated by death, and well-placed to investigate that fascination, as he's growing up in the old people's home that's run by his parents.

Anne-Marie Duff plays Edward's Mum; David Morrissy, his Dad. The home is populated by a veritable stock company of well-known older English actors: considering the prevalence of plastic surgery, they might well have been made-up to look older, as Caine might have been. (The man seems to have no personal vanity.) They include Rosemary Harris as Elsie, Leslie Phillips as Reg, Elizabeth Spriggs as Prudence (it was her last picture); Sylvia Syms as Lilian, and that North of England stalwart, Peter Vaughan, as Bob. Speaking of which, you can cut the North of England accents in this picture with a knife: subtitles would sure have been helpful. Despite which, the acting is uniformly very good.

Conservative Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister in the 1980's, and this film is apparently set on her watch; it might have had some political thoughts. Thatcher's governance was noted for great, although costly in human terms, improvements in the British economy, and I'm a little surprised to see this setting of the family-run nursing home at that time. At one time, these live-in family nursing homes were not uncommon: a family just had to get a big old house -- they were not too popular, then --- and some old people to fill the rooms, and they had a living. During the time of my English exile, I actually knew such a family: they had to look after 24 little old ladies. It was always 24 breakfasts, 24 dinners, 24 teas. I wouldn't have thought this business model had lingered into the 1980's; but times have always been harder in the North of the country than the South, and perhaps it did linger in the North.

Let's face it; the subject matter makes this movie a downer. The thing about getting old is, you generally get sick, physically and/or mentally; you lose your looks, your job, your loved ones, and your friends; you get lonely, and then you die. There is some cheerfulness and hope in Caine's relationship with the boy; but this movie is certainly not going to be everybody's cuppa. The best reason to see it is, of course, Caine, a marvelous actor and a thrifty one, who can do a lot with a little. And he did give a bit of a nod to his loyal, longtime fans: at one point he's explaining to the boy why his marriage broke up, and he says," I couldn't settle down. I was very good-looking then, and I couldn't keep it in my pants." Well, hello, Alfie: some of us remember just how he looked then. For us, I give the movie an extra star.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Blu, great performance, November 17, 2009

By	Steve Kuehl "SLV Video" (Ben Lomond, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Is Anybody There? [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Probably one of the lowest activity films this year on Blu that ended up looking this pristine. Michael Caine's performance was outstanding from beginning to end, but unfortunately he is not in every scene.

The story follows a young boy as he deals with his life of living at a retirement home in the 1980s UK (that his parents manage for income). I had to have subtitles on as the accents and slang were unintelligible throughout. Caine plays a retired magician and self appointed resident to this home who inevitably befriends this young loner. Over the course of the film these two unlikely characters impart upon each other their little nuances and knowledge of life. Extremely slow moving at times and unlikely in others, what makes this movie tangible is the believability of Caine's borderline senility meets second chance in a dead end home role.

The Blu clarity is outstanding. I even paused it in the most of unlikely places and the line definition was ideal for the scenes. Even in the near dark basement scene there was no pixelation or blur. The DTS was perfect, and the subliminal/background noises of the old folks home played through no matter what part of the house the scene was taking place. The only supplement was made up of a few forgettable deleted scenes.

Not a mainstream appeal film by any means, but the performances were believable by all involved. The Blu sells itself but in an unlikely film of sorts. Four for the Blu and the story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very dry, January 25, 2010

By	aries magic (midwest) - See all my reviews

This movie was very dry, boring and really didn't make it's point - to be part of the living before it was too late. I love Michael Caine, but with his talent, he could have done this movie asleep. Or maybe he did.