So you've got Michael Caine- either brilliantly made-up or else worryingly slipping into physical decline, I somehow suspect both to be true- as an ageing, retired magician (he seems to like films about conjuring these days) and young Bill Milner from the lovely Son Of Rambow as- guess what- a geeky outsider kid and they strike up a friendship and teach one another about life and love. That's right, they strike up the kind of friendship that is really unusual except in films where they're ten-a-penny. It looks quite nice; shot in a fuzzy, vaguely lo-fi, slightly off-kilter and- I suppose- quite trendy way. There are a couple of good performances- I especially liked Anne-Marie Duff as Bill Milner's mother- and some nice cameos from a couple of top-notch old players (Leslie Phillips, Peter Vaughan, Mavis from Coronation Street, Elizabeth Spriggs and Sylvia Sims). And so I liked it for that.
But because it's formulaic and a bit obvious and determinedly bittersweet I didn't even remember it a week later, rendering these notes redundant, so it's sort of okay but a poor utilisation of the superb talents on show.
