Just like old times

The days when Richard (Pierce Brosnan) and Kate (Emma Thompson) were a happily married couple are long gone. In the meantime, the two have become enemies and never miss an opportunity to get on each other's nerves. But then Richard learns that he was defrauded in the sale of his company and that not only his employees' pensions are lost, but his and Kate's as well. The fact that he and his employees have worked hard all these years and are now to be left empty-handed is something Richard absolutely refuses to accept. And that's why he and Kate bury their hatchet to confront the con man (Laurent Lafitte) in France. But when he's completely unimpressed, they have to bring out other guns. With the help of their best friends Jerry (Timothy Spall) and Pen (Celia Imrie), Richard and Kate try to get back the money that was stolen from them. But can this really work?

As in Old Times actually has all the ingredients for a successful comedy: charming leads who have great chemistry together, an amusing premise that sits somewhere between a marital comedy and a retired version of Ocean`s Eleven, and picturesque locations that bring a bit of holiday cheer to the dreary autumn. With the mysterious past of Jerry, a very amusing running gag was also built into the story, which always provides really good laughs. And if Pierce Brosnan then quasi in passing his James Bond image on the joke, then the whimsical fun seems to be perfect.

Despite all these good ingredients, the overall picture just does not want to convince properly. No question, Joel Hopkins (Love at Second Sight) has directed a nice comedy, which in its best moments can spray a lot of charm. However, too often the timing just isn't right and the already somewhat decrepit gags lose their last spark of wit as a result. Without coherent timing and working humor, the play of the actually really good actors seems rather cramped and overly shrill, which further dulls the pleasure for the viewer.

This is, however, especially in the first third of negative weight. After that, the production seems to have found the right pace and the good moments clearly dominate over the rather stale jokes. Still: this comedy never offers more than nice, harmless entertainment. That's a bit of a shame in so far as clearly more could have been made out of the really nice basic idea. And also for the good-humored ensemble it would have been nice if they had been allowed to do something more with their talent. But Hopkins plays it too safe with his staging, never deviates from the beaten track and remains, of all things, when the story would have demanded a little more bite and viciousness, much too well-behaved.

Through this he may achieve that his film does not really hurt anyone and entertains especially the slightly older target audience very well. But unfortunately this also leads to the fact that Like in old times can't leave any lasting impression on the viewer. If you are looking for harmless amusing material for a relaxed afternoon at the cinema, you can't really go wrong with this comedy. However, if you're hoping for some great fun based on the actors and the witty premise that won't only make you smile, you'll probably leave the cinema disappointed. And at the end of the day, that's only enough for a "worth seeing" rating: Worth seeing with some reservations

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp