Power play: Five grown-up chick flicks to stream this week
THE release of Book Club is a timely reminder that Hollywood can still make good ‘women’s pictures’ when it puts its mind to it. Here are five more mature-age must-sees to stream at home.
Leigh Paatsch
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THE release into cinemas of the lovely Book Club is a timely reminder that Hollywood can still make good ‘women’s pictures’ when it puts its mind to it. Here are five more mature-age must-sees to stream at home.
THE QUEEN (2006) ****
Foxtel Now
A slyly amusing blend of fact, fantasy and hearsay set in England in 1997. As the nation mourns the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II (a stunning Helen Mirren) refuses to budge from her Scottish retreat and acknowledge the public’s grief. Meanwhile, new PM Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) applies his powers of persuasion to end the stand-off between ruler and subjects.
BEST FEMALE BUDDY ACTION FLICK IN YEARS
IT’S COMPLICATED (2009) ** 1/2
Foxtel Now, Stan
This daffy rom-com for over-40s has an intriguing question to ask. How could a worldly woman (Meryl Streep) become the secret mistress of her now-remarried ex-husband (Alec Baldwin)? The answer is not nearly as amusing as writer-director Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give) thinks. However, Streep and Baldwin are wonderful enough together for that not to be a problem.
BLACKKKLANSMAN TELLS IT LIKE IT WAS — AND STILL IS TODAY
BARNSEY BIO LIKE NO MUSIC DOCO YOU’VE SEEN
45 YEARS (2015) ****
Netflix
A searing drama charged with raw yet poignant fury, tracking a couple whose lengthy marriage is threatened by news of something that happened before they met. The astonishing performances of Charlotte Rampling (Oscar-nominated) and Tom Courtenay combine into a powder keg of repressed emotions. With one false move — or is that one truthful word? — it feels as if their characters could combust right before you.
THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (2012) ***
Google, iTunes
In this pleasant, pensioner-powered British ensemble comedy, a posse of past-it Poms are suckered into living at a ritzy retirement home in Jaipur, India. Which turns out to be not in the least bit ritzy at all. Best enjoyed as a rare chance to see an extensive array of England’s finest weather-beaten thesps — led by Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith — acting up a storm at close quarters.
RICKI AND THE FLASH (2015) ***
Netflix
What we have here is a case of “no Meryl Streep, no movie”. Which is not to say there is much going wrong here. But it is another deeply immersive performance from Streep that repeatedly lifts this bittersweet comedy-drama hybrid out of the doldrums. Streep plays Ricki, a woman on the wrong side of 50 who ditched her family for a career in rock music that never took off. Co-stars Rick Springfield, Kevin Kline.
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Originally published as Power play: Five grown-up chick flicks to stream this week
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