My Old Lady

My Old Lady has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in the US on Amazon Prime Video and Darkroom, and in the UK on Curzon Amazon Channel. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. 287 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Watch it for Maggie Smith — stay for everyone else around them. Start it on Amazon Prime Video whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

My Old Lady is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. Sharp writing and a well-matched ensemble are what separate My Old Lady from the crowd. Mathias Gold is a down-on-his-luck New Yorker who inherits a Parisian apartment from his estranged father. But when he arrives in France to sell the vast domicile, he's shocked to discover a live-in tenant who is not prepared to budge. His apartment is a viager—an ancient French real estate system with complex rules pertaining to its resale—and the feisty Englishwoman Mathilde Girard, who has lived in the apartment with her daughter Chloé for many years, can by contract collect monthly payments from Mathias until her death. The chemistry Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. My Old Lady came out in 2014. My Old Lady earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

If you need a comedy that actually makes you laugh, My Old Lady is a strong candidate. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Maggie Smith's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.

My Old Lady was released in 2014, directed by Israel Horovitz. The full 107-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.