Life of Riley

Resnais brought us the likes of 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' and has collaborated with Alan Aykbourn in the past. Here he takes Aykbourn's very English play – sets it in Yorkshire and does it in French. It is about three couples who are all am dram enthusiasts. They are rehearsing a play and find out that a mutual friend – George – is terminally ill and has only mere months to live.

They decide the play must go on but they will all rally around for George – whom they all have great affection for. The play unravels the motivations of all the players in a slow reveal that can be amusing and at times stylistically 'stagey'. It is also filmed on artificial sets to give the added feeling of being am dram and an actual play which will please or annoy depending on your taste. Thespians will appreciate the homage to the theatre.

The performances were all good, and the story is fine, but I felt it dragged a bit in parts, and it is only 109 minutes long. Still this is a fine swan song for Resnais who we sadly lost after he made this film. He was a marvellous talent of the French film industry and will be very much missed – if you are a fan of his work then I am sure you will not be disappointed in this – his last film.