Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2003)

The Worst Film Ever

Pretty Good

One of my all time favorites.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This film shows just how people are regarded over the age of 60, and unfortunately because generations are getting older, it will only get worse. Everyone in this film shows just what can be achieved if you don't have to sit & eat cabbage and be doped up to the eye balls.Pauline Collins, plays her part so well, to be put into a home, just because her son (Peter Capaldi) and his wife want her home after his father dies, and now his mother has become "past it." The film shows just how in a position to either be putting someone in to a care home, or being made to go into a care home should be aware of, because this certainly is an eye opener. People are not "past it" just because they don't work, or have lost their partners.

Pauline Collins, who shone so brightly in Shirley Valentine, fails to rescue this lamely scripted and poorly acted British comedy. The plot concerns Mrs Caldicot, a widow who is tricked out of her house and into a retirement home, where she is sedated and forced to sign over her property to her son.She soon realises that she and her fellow residents, who are also sedated to keep them quiet, are being treated unfairly and foments a rebellion against the home's smarmy manager.But this comedic take on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is mired in pantomime-quality acting and naive plotting in which old people are never disorientated or distressed, and journalists pay for scores of pensioners to be put up in a country house hotel.I have no idea what Vernon Coleman's novel was like, but it is unlikely that the set decorator who adapted it made many improvements.It made just £16,400 at the British box office. I would be surprised if most of those who parted with their money did not ask for it back.

This is a dreadful waste of celluloid. A trite, unfunny collection of stereotypes with no humour or true feeling.The targets are easy but this film still manages to miss themEven with the flu and trapped on the sofa watching the box with no concentration this was still not up to par

Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War didn't reap the acclaim and appreciation it deserved upon its cinematic release, which is a shame because it is an enjoyable and comfortable comedy, but it also touches some raw nerves over the treatment of our senior citizens. Even though many audiences will not be able to identify with the aged protagonists, it doesn't take very long before the viewer is rooting for the 'Wrinkly Revolution', as the oldies thumb their noses at the mean-spirited authorities.The leader of the backlash is Thelma Caldicot - a downtrodden housewife who is prematurely dumped in a retirement home by her money-hungry son and daughter-in-law. 'Twilight Years' is run by an obsequious manager and an iron-fisted matron, whose goals are to keep the profits rolling in, and the patients doped up and stuffed full of boiled cabbage. Thelma rebels against this and rallies the rest home residents into a large-scale escape, which becomes national news.There are some lovely character roles; in particular the totally over-the-top rest home management duo, who well deserve whatever just desserts befall them. But was it really necessary to give them a sex scene? Additionally, the love interest for Thelma seems a trifle contrived, and doesn't add to the story at all. Where the narrative really works is when it questions our perceptions of what "old" and "past it" really mean, and that the uncomfortable and embarrassing truth is that it is easier to stuff elderly and confused people full of tranquilisers than it is to genuinely help them. Unfortunately, many of these moving scenes are marred by the overly sentimental score. The bouncy theme tune however is perfect for an occasionally outrageous, very funny, very British comedy that will leave the viewer with a pleasant and upbeat aftertaste.