Given the right film, Michael Caine has always had the ability to carry himself as one of the great actors of the last 40 years, from Zulu to Alfie to The Italian Job and on through the ages.  Occasionally a bit loose with his choices, in recent years he his presence has been a welcome, shining attraction in a number of very satisfying movies; his part in Children of Men, in particular, I found terribly moving.  Now we are presented with Is Anybody There?, which despite its rather simple setting and what could have been twisted into a trite plot, the strength of Caine carries the film through from beginning to end (with some help from a young Bil Milner).  Milner plays Edward, a child of about ten.  He lives with his parents in their home in late-80’s England, an only child, surrounded only by the other occupants: old folks whom have come to live in the home, as his parents converted it into a rest home as an attempt to get a business off the ground.  It is crowded, his parents are on edge with each other, and death is always around the corner.  Edward has become fascinated with death, or more specifically with the idea of knowing what happens after death, and whether ghosts move about in our world, unseen.  When a resident dies, his first instinct isn’t to report it but to try and record any signs of a ghostly presence with his audio cassette recorder.

Enter Clarence Parkinson (Michael Caine), who has been moved to the home by social services against his will.  He arrives in a small van decorated with advertisements from his prior career: The Amazing Clarence, a magician.  It is at this simple plot point that the entire film could have been derailed, but Caine and Director John Crowley allow Caine room to reveal a complex and honest character.  Clarence is angry at being moved into a home filled with doddering old folks he is afraid of become like, bitter at being alone, frustrated at his complete lack of control, and sadly aware that physically and mentally he is deteriorating.  His anger and frustration is not hidden; in one early scene he and Edward scream at each other after a minor incident with a soccer ball, and Caine walks away crying in misery.

Eventually, a bond is built between the two, but that bond is always strained by the bitter lessons Clarence wants to teach Edward: among them “Your life changes, and not always for the better” and “You collect regrets, and they stick to you like old bruises.”  Clarence most succinctly expresses his frustration in one moving scene when he exclaims “It just hurts to get this far and realize that there is NOTHING!”  Despite his rages, their bond grows, and Edward does his best to help Clarence resolve issues from his past.

There are messages in Is Anybody There?, but they are not crammed down your throat:  the aged have things to teach us, and they are desperate for the slightest bit of comfort and understanding; death is not to be feared, but accepted; you make your choices in life, choose your path, and it is better not to waste your years wishing that choice had been different.  Above all, the film tries to show that life changes for the better and for the worse, and that moments of happiness can be found if you look for them. 

Is Anybody There? is quite good, and produced a good number of tears for Heather and myself.  I highly recommend it.