The Lady in the Van

Maggie Smith lets her hair down in the role of a real-life bumptious bag lady who lived in a van and found a permanent parking spot outside the Camden home of writer Alan Bennett. Naturally, he put pen to paper to turn this quirky, quintessentially British story of human connection into a book, then a play and later this film directed by Nicholas Hytner. Alex Jennings takes the role of the cardi-clad Bennett, and he delivers his trademark scathing witticisms with aplomb. But this is clearly Smith's show. She is funny without tipping into caricature, yet openly vulnerable, too, and the friendship that develops between her and Bennett defies convention. Smith clearly manipulates Bennett's liberal bleeding heart and he wonders whether he is just too timid to turn her away, even as she defecates all over his home. They veer close to a moment of pathos towards the end, but it's not too profound. The social awkwardness leaves a more lingering impression - like the air inside that van, according to Bennett's vivid description.