McShane Family

I have seen the gamut of stories (BBC miniseries, etc.) about the run-up to WW2. Who could imagine that this film, made so long ago, and written by Noel Coward (who I assumed was given to more sophisticated fare) was such a masterpiece. No surprise that it was directed by David Lean, and performed by a top-notch British cast (in Technicolor no less). Every bit of it was perfect.

Forget the naysayers, this is charming and raucously funny (if those two ideas can co-exist). I rarely watched SNL over the last 25 years, but I do regret seeing “Chad”, if that’s any example of Pete D’s talent. Weird that PD altered his ethnicity in his backstory (Irish can be just as funny as Italians), but that Italian power team (Falco, Pesci, Cannavale, Buscemi, etc.) is terrific.

Right up there with “Love, Actually” as a wonderful modern British Christmas film about relationships. AARP should rate this highly as a “Movies for Grownups” film.

Three words: Bataan Death March.