Edie *** (2017, Sheila Hancock, Kevin Guthrie, Paul Brannigan, Amy Manson, Wendy Morgan) – Movie Review

Sheila Hancock is great as the incredibly feisty, ie stubborn, never say die 83-year-old widow Edie, who packs her old camping bag, gets on the train for Scotland, and has one final adventure  – to fulfill her long-postponed ambition to climb the picturesque Mount Suilven. Why? Because it is there and because she finds she still has her old postcard of it. And because she can, or at least thinks she can. The road not taken doesn’t always have to be the road not taken for ever, apparently.

[Spoiler alert] Luckily she meets incredibly nice young Scotsman Jonny (Kevin Guthrie), the owner of a small traditional camping store, who as her trainer and guide,  helps to keep her alive long enough to reach the summit.

Co-writer-director Simon Hunter’s enjoyable and entertaining film is shrewd and canny enough to avoid most of the clichés and pitfalls of this kind of senior citizen wish-fulfilment movie. And thank goodness for that. The only real cliché is the one expressed on the poster: ‘It’s never too late’. But that idea and Ms Hancock should be enough to get us keen to see the film. It is a thoroughly likeable, warm-hearted, old-fashioned, well-crafted entertainment, based in a believable version of the truth. Is there still a place for this kind of film? We hope so.

Kevin Guthrie is good company, but Sheila Hancock is even better company. She is great. She is hereby now elevated to the status of national treasure, if she wasn’t one already, and she kind of was. You fear for Ms Hancock’s safety as she gets on in there and climbs. But, boy has she got a sturdy pair of legs. Hancock and Guthrie have such good screen chemistry that when they’re not both there together the film is not quite so good.

The soundtrack, photography and editing are all first rate. Hunter knows his film making and has complete control of all the elements of his movie. Edie is worth a trek to see.

Sheila Hancock is great as Edie,

Also in the cast are Paul Brannigan, Amy Manson, and Wendy Morgan.

Edie is directed by Simon Hunter, runs  102 minutes, is based on an idea by Simon Hunter, its story is by Edward Lynden-Bell and the screenplay is written by Elizabeth O’Halloran, it is shot by August Jakobsson, produced by Mark Stothert and scored by Debbie Wiseman, with Film Editing by Olly Stothert.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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