Irina Palm: Critic Reviews

Irina Palm is, for the most part, a phony trifle, but at its heart, somehow, is a real and fascinating person.

A gobsmackingly awful British film -- awful in the way that somehow only British films can be: our TV drama, of whatever quality, is never as creaky, naive, badly written and flatulent as this.

Although director and co-writer Sam Garbarski takes great care in tracing this difficult dramatic path (he has to balance the twin tracks of other people's morality and Maggie's personal course), he can't avoid the predictability.

Even if there aren't many other reasons to give this contrived and too often silly film a chance, Faithfull makes a captivating leading lady.

Staggeringly inane.

Director Sam Garbarski must like his early Neil Jordan and Stephen Frears, since Irina Palm plays like a throwback to gritty-but-softhearted English dramas of the 1980s like Mona Lisa and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.

Irina Palm is saddled with an odd title, an outlandish plot and an unlikely star--notorious rock maven Marianne Faithfull cast as a suburban frump. But it turns out a success

This would never have worked with anyone else but Faithfull, who gives a touching performance even as she flaunts her 40-year metamorphosis from porcelain pop diva to elderly bad girl.

Ms. Faithfull turns out to be another actress of a certain age who is well used in a film to which she lends dignity, compassion and gravitas.

Tonally all over the place, pic is built around a would-be humorous script, but jiggery lensing and gloomy lighting suggest helmer Sam Garbarski is under some delusion that he's making a slice of gritty realism with romantic undertones.

[A] lethargically directed comedy.

A pleasingly sentimental British domestic drama.

takes the notion of risque empowerment a few preposterous steps further.

Genially preposterous and pleasantly diverting, it balances calculation against humanity and generally comes out on top.

Un drama sensible y austero, no exento de cierto sentido del humor, que deja de lado cualquier aspecto sordido del asunto para concentrarse en una historia de amor y sacrificio.

Engaging, enjoyable and quietly thought-provoking British drama with a refreshingly offbeat script and a great central performance from Marianne Faithfull.

Garbarski combines social satire, hand jobs, feminism, and romantic grace to create a tenderhearted tale of found love and female empowerment. And he actually pulls it off, give the guy a hand. On second thought...

There's a heartwarming quality that softens the hardcore setting but this does lack an assured, er, hand.

The performances will keep you watching, and make Irina Palm well worth seeing.

Irina Palm is a showcase for Faithfull but it never truly allows her to shine.

At first blush, it seems like another entry in the saucy-but-safe Brit genre, a la Calendar Girls, Saving Grace or The Full Monty, but it turns out to be both more ambitious and less successful than those diversions.

An alleged story of determination and empowerment, about the lengths -- and girths -- a formerly timid dowager will go to in order to save someone's life.