Elsie (Janet Lacey) and Joe (Oliver Park) are neighbours, and they
couldn't be more different: While retirement-aged Elsie likes her peace
and quiet and her life and everything to follow a pre-set pattern, Joe is
a twenty-something who loves to party, loves loud music and having
different women over every night. But Elsie has only two more months to
live, and she needs somebody to drive her round the country - and since
Joe is the only one with enough time and in constant need of money, she
sees herself forced to ask him. At first, they do the usual stuff, like
visiting the church Elsie got married at, the hotel she spent her wedding
night in etc, and Joe gets a little bored - until Elsie decides it's time
to live a little, so she starts smoke in public, tries herself at
shoplifting and kissing a stranger, and she almost crashes Joe's car, too,
when she persuades him to let her drive. Joe is shocked by her behaviour
at first, but he more and more comes to realize that she and him are
actually two of a kind - and ultimately, when he has brought her to her
destination, her son she hasn't spoken to in ten years (Jason Bailey), he
gives her back the money she paid him for the trip ... Elsie
& Joe could have been a big and ultimately cheesy and tear-jerking
melodrama - instead though it's a very subtle film that favours small
gestures and bits of comedy over big emotional outbursts. And add to that
a light atmosphere and a relaxed pacing, and you've got yourself a very
entertaining dramedy (in lack of a better word) on a very serious subject. Recommended.
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