Quartet

Dustin Hoffman's shameless Bafta-bait arrives on DVD and is a pleasant diversion, if ultimately lacking in substance. Maggie Smith leads an all-star cast as a retired opera singer struggling to adjust to life in a nursing home for professional musicians, including her estranged ex-husband.

A piece like this depends on character actors and Hoffman brings together some of the best Britain has to offer, including Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connelly. A faint plot about an upcoming concert is more of an excuse to get these luvvies on screen together as much as possible and they’re always entertaining. Only Pauline Collins can't seem to find the right note as the principal comic relief battling with senility. 

The meatier elements of growing old, and the loss of talent and dignity, are only superficially dealt with in what is essentially a vanity project that's not without pretensions; but Smith commands every scene and the film has an undeniable warmth that’s hard to ignore.