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'Ladies in Lavender' are a likeable pair

By TERRY MORRIS
Dayton Daily News

Grande dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench would hardly need to break a sweat to play a pair of elderly sisters living on the rocky and picturesque coast of Cornwall in 1936.

But of course they invest every word, pause, gesture and expression with the history their characters have accumulated together and separately in Ladies in Lavender, a slight but charming story about what happens when a handsome young man washes up on their shore one stormy night.

Roadside Attractions 'Ladies in Lavender' B 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

Their simple and comfortable existence of gardening, knitting, gazing out to sea and chatting quietly is turned upside down, in an understated, unexpressed British sort of way.

Daniel Bruhl, who jumped through figurative hoops to honor his mother in the lively 2003 German film Goodbye Lenin, gives another endearing performance as a young man with warm respect for his elders.

His name is Andrea, he can't speak English to begin with and his ankle is broken when he's rescued from the beach, which requires an extended convalescence in the spare bedroom of Janet (Smith) and Ursula (Dench). His presence stirs all sorts of emotions in them. Elements of their sibling rivalry are revived, along with memories and regrets about lost loves, or loves never experienced.

Almost without words, Dench is remarkably expressive as a woman confronted by a void she thought had been stored away long ago.

The language barrier delays the emergence of Andrea's identity. He turns out to be Polish, although he can also speak a bit of German, which makes him suspicious to some in the close-knight farming and fishing village where the sisters live. The major revelation, which attracts the attention of a pretty painter (Natascha McElhone as Olga) who also speaks German, is his prodigious and passionate talent as a violinist.

It's a gift that will eventually take him abruptly from the sisters, yet solidify his memory of them and theirs of him.

This sedate fleshing out of a story by William J. Locke would be a far more obvious overinflation without Smith and Dench. With them, plus a sprinkle of humorous and touching moments against a lovely natural backdrop, it's simply nice.