Movie Night: Travels with My Aunt.

Review #479: Travels with My Aunt.

Cast
Maggie Smith (Augusta Bertram), Alec McCowen (Henry Pulling), Louis Gossett Jr. (Zachary Wordsworth), Robert Stephens (Ercole Visconti), Cindy Williams (Tooley), and Robert Flemyng (Crowder) Directed by George Cukor.

Review
Travels with My Aunt may not achieve all that it could have been in terms of entertainment, but it at least tries enough to not fall too hard into mediocrity. Maggie Smith is charming, her presence keeps the film going, and she does provide some laughs. McCowen makes for a fine foil, with effective scenes between the two at times, especially in the second half. The rest of the cast is fine and such, not overacting too much. The film has slow moments that bog it down at times, but even that can't slow the film from treading on, quirks and all. It's a fine comedy, with splices of romance involved, which actually don't slow the film too much, and I do like how Smith plays her younger self, which isn't really seen too much in flashbacks in film these days. Originally Katharine Hepburn was going to star, but she would later back out, and Smith would take her place, and she certainly was a good replacement for Hepburn in this case. While the film could've been a bit less slow, it is a fun film, that has its share of laughs, and Maggie Smith is a joy to watch.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.