The film is based on the book by writer Alan Bennett who recorded the 'mostly true' story of a woman that lived in a van on his driveway for fifteen years! The woman had been in an accident, a motorcyclist had run into her van and was killed, although it was not her fault Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith) flees from the scene. She then proceeded to live the rest of her life in the van, moving parking spots every now and then however she has run ins with the neighbours and the police who demand that she moves her van. New to the street, Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) offers his driveway to the woman for a few months until she gets sorted, however three months turns into a very eventful 15 years!.
The way this film was structured was incredibly clever. It was told from the point of view of Alan, but he was two people - the half of him that lived and the other half that wrote, acting as two consciences. This allowed the audience to witness Alan's inner conflicts about letting the woman stay on his drive and use his lavatory (although he had very little say in that matter!). The change in time (i.e. over the 15 years) was shown in the greying of every characters hair and the change in the type of cars that were parked on the street making it subtly obvious that time had passed.
The acting was absolutely incredible, which I suppose is to be expected looking at the cast list! Alex Jennings was the perfect person to play Alan Bennett, who himself makes a cameo in the final scene and Maggie Smith as I've said in several previous posts is one of my favourites and can adapt with ease to the role in hand!
There wasn't a moment in this film where I felt bored. I am a fan of films based on true stories anyway but the structure and the acting in this film made it continually engaging. I think it is a film that can be seen in cinemas or at home, although I am glad I saw it in theatres I think if you get the chance to watch it you definitely should!
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