Hampstead (2017)

An American widow finds unexpected love with a man living wild on Hampstead Heath when they take on the developers who want to destroy his home.

Director:

Joel Hopkins

Writer:

Robert Festinger

Stars:

Diane Keaton, Lesley Manville, Brendan Gleeson

Cast

Credited cast:
Diane Keaton	...	Emily Walters
Lesley Manville	...	Fiona
Brendan Gleeson	...	Donald Horner
James Norton	...	Philip
Jason Watkins	...	James Smythe
Phil Davis	...	Sid Fife
Simon Callow	...	Judge
Adeel Akhtar	...	Wiggin
Hugh Skinner	...	Erik
Alistair Petrie	...	Steve Crowley
Deborah Findlay	...	Mary Neal
Rosalind Ayres	...	Susan
Will Smith	...	Leon Rowlands
Brian Protheroe	...	Rory
Elizabeth Conboy	...	Posh lady

Storyline

An American widowed woman left in debt by her unfaithfull husband finds a man living on the land of Hampstead. He lives in a broken down shack but happy with his life. One day she spots him being beaten up so calls the police and goes to see him, so after this she starts to fall for him and helps him from being evicted.

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Plot Keywords:

widow | court case | property developer | park | hermit | 

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Taglines:

Love can grow where you least expect it.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jason Watkins (James) and Hugh Skinner (Erik) also starred together in the BBC comedy series W1A (2014).

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Goofs

The judge in the UK court repeatedly uses a gavel. No UK court of any type uses or has ever used a gavel.

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Quotes

Fiona: If we wait too long we shrivel up like some imported apricot sitting on the shelf in Waitrose.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: Hampstead (2017)

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Soundtracks

Rolling Dice
Written by Mathilda Homer and Sam Mitchell

User Reviews

it will all work out

Greetings again from the darkness. Were this not inspired by the true story of Harry Hallowes, finding something positive to say about the film might prove difficult. Hallowes was (sometimes) affectionately known as the "Hampstead Hermit". The crux of his story is that he was awarded legal "squatter's rights" for his many years living in a small shack on the vast land where the Athlone House (now foreign owned) sits. Director Joel Hopkins (THE LOVE PUNCH, 2014) works from a script by Robert Festinger (Oscar nominated for IN THE BEDROOM, 2001) to turn the story into a cutesy romantic comedy.

Diane Keaton stars as Emily Walters, widowed for more than a year by a man who left her in debt and with the added bonus of discovering he had been having an affair with a younger woman. Brendan Gleeson stars as Donald Horner, the gruff, well-read man from the shack. It's an idyllic British community with quaint shops and leisure bicycle riders - the kind of place where locals mostly wave and smile while the generic background music plays. Emily, who lives in the luxury apartment she shared with her late husband, is trying to figure out how to dig out of the financial hole she's in. The first idea should have been getting a job other than volunteering at a charity dress shop, but this is the type of movie where real world problems magically dissipate and we know things are going to be just fine.

The film is mostly tolerable when Brendan Gleeson is on screen, even when Ms. Keaton is annoying him with her usual quirks. Of course the two end up liking each other (it is a rom-com after all), and she helps him with his legal battle to keep his "home", while he helps her find meaning in her days again. Ms. Keaton mostly wears her familiar turtlenecks and scarfs, and we even get an early beret visual punchline (later ruined).

The always fun Lesley Manville owns her role as Fiona, neighbor and quasi-rival to Emily. More of Ms. Manville would have helped. Other supporting roles are covered by James Norton, Adeel Akhtar, Simon Callow, Jason Watkins, and Hugh Skinner. Many familiar faces, each given little to do. Thanks to the real life Harry Hallowes, there is a message here about the difficulty in living life on one's own terms - a near impossibility without somehow affecting on infringing on others. Otherwise, this is one that will only appeal to fans of Ms. Keaton and of movies that require little effort or thought from viewers.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official Site (de)

Country:

UK Belgium

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 June 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hampstead

Filming Locations:

Highgate Cemetery, Swain's Lane, Highgate, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,141, 16 June 2019

Gross USA:

$144,396

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,335,171

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ecosse Films, Motion Picture Capital, Scope Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1