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Nuanced performances strengthen 'Ladies in Lavender'

Could there be a lousier title for a movie starring Maggie Smith and Judi Dench than "Ladies in Lavender?"

It doesn't just scream Chick Flick. It screams Old Chick Flick.

Roadside Attractions 'Ladies in Lavender' B The verdict: The movie's a little too hushed, but the stars invigorate every frame. Director: Charles Dance Starring: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Natascha McElhone, Daniel Bruhl, Miriam Margolyes, Freddie Jones Run time: 103 minutes Release date: April 8, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for brief language. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "Ladies in Lavender"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Granted, this restrained period piece isn't aimed at anyone who's already seen "Revenge of the Sith" 28 times and plans to go back for more. But thanks to its pair of magnificent Dames, "Ladies in Lavender" has more going for it than the flowery title might suggest.

They play sisters — Jane (Smith), who was widowed by World War I, and Ursula (Dench), who never married and, it's implied, never had a serious relationship with a man.

Now, in the unsettled twilight between World Wars, they live in their deceased father's house on the coast of Cornwall, pruning the garden, listening to the wireless and eating lady-like meals served by a scene-stealing Miriam Margolyes.

Into these quiet, pleasantly ordered lives comes a young stranger (Daniel Bruhl), washed up on their rocky shore like a gift from the sea. Nursing him back to health, they learn his name is Andrea, he's Polish and he plays the violin like an angel. The unfulfilled Ursula develops an unseemly crush, which upsets her practical and protective sister. As Andrea recovers and enters the village community, he becomes the nexus of a shifting cloud of emotions and jealousies.

Something of the same thing happened to a young Clint Eastwood in one of his early (and still favorite) movies, "The Beguiled." Playing a wounded Civil War soldier tended to by the faculty and students at an isolated boarding school for girls, he ends up minus a leg — and worse.

There are times you wish this hushed drama would indulge in something a little bloody, too, something a little more red meat. But that would deny the film its intrinsic strength as a fascinating and involving chamber piece for two superb actresses. Theirs is a duet of nuance and inflection, raised eyebrows and trembly lips. Director (and sometime actor) Charles Dance may not know how to light a fire under his film, but he clearly cherishes every eye-shift and innuendo his stars offer.

So should we.