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Poster for My Old Lady

My Old Lady

He's in the will. She's in the way.

2014 · 1h 47m · PG-13 Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by Israel Horovitz

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Overview

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.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
59%
Tomatometer
Rotten

It's too twee and theatrical to take seriously.

Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Rotten

My Old Lady feels as stubbornly stuck in that expansive and underlit apartment as Madame Girard herself, and you may find yourself bolting for a lungful of relief.

Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail
Rotten

One minute we're chuckling along with a broadly comic setup; the next, characters are talking about suicide.

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Rotten

There's a potentially compelling movie here about the price that children pay-over entire lifetimes-for their parents' selfish indulgences, but it winds up smothered in feel-good cuteness.

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club
Fresh

Kline's character is an alcoholic and not exactly lovable, but we come to empathize. Smith, the grande dame of British theater and film, is wickedly wry and quick.

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

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