Is Anybody There? (2008)

Director:

John Crowley

Writer:

Peter Harness (writer)

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

"Set in 1980s seaside England, this is the story of Edward, an unusual ten year old boy growing up in an old people's home run by his parents...

Plot Keywords:

Magician | Card Trick | Entertainer | Question Mark In Title | Cemetery

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Clarence
Bill Milner	...	Edward
Anne-Marie Duff	...	Mum
David Morrissey	...	Dad
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thelma Barlow	...	Ena
Linzey Cocker	...	Tanya
Adam Drinkall	...	Stuart
James Gilbert	...	Tanya's New Boyfriend
Garrick Hagon	...	Douglas
Keith Hargreaves	...	Bus driver
Rosemary Harris	...	Elsie
Ralph Ineson	...	Mr. Kelly
Angie Inwards	...	Mavis
Charli Janeway	...	Guy Who Walks
Karl Johnson	...	Arthur
Miles Jupp	...	Vicar
Michael Keogh	...	Paramedic
Leslie Phillips	...	Reg
Ralph Riach	...	Clive
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Prudence
Sylvia Syms	...	Lilian
Andrew Turner	...	Undertaker
Peter Vaughan	...	Bob

Also Known As:

Is Anybody There? (UK) (new title) (USA)
Is There Anybody There? (Canada: English title) (festival title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language including sexual references, and some disturbing images.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | UK:12A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

BBC Films

Trivia:

The last film of Elizabeth Spriggs. She died during post production.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Loose Women: (#13.161)" (2009)

Yes--A great actor is there.

Small films such as "Is Anybody There?" usually aren't there, at least as far as box office impact. This one may have a chance at some return because of Sir Michael Caine's role as a retirement home denizen in 1980's England. Caine infuses the ex-magician with a bit of movie magic—cynicism baked with pathos and one of the greatest cinema voices ever.

He teaches an equally eccentric 10 year old boy some tricks, and the little one amuses us and Caine with his project to capture the death throes and after activity of dying residents.

That this bleak landscape of death and despair can be lightened by these two interesting characters is a tribute to the magic of a movie actor and movies themselves, small as both may be next to colossal American blockbusters.