A Very Enjoyable Light, Romantic British Comedy!
Those who are familiar with As Time Goes By will already be familiar with the writing of Bob Larbey, who also wrote A Fine Romance, and those who've enjoyed As Time Goes By will almost certainly enjoy 1980's A Fine Romance. Though not so well known, this light romantic comedy about two mismatched 40-something lonely hearts bears all the hallmarks of Larbey's classic and engaging style of writing.
Briefly, Dame Judi Dench (As Time Goes By's Jean Pargetter) stars as Laura Dalton, a highly competent albeit somewhat shy, nervous and highly-strung translator with a tall, pretty, charming and very happily married younger sister named Helen, who only wants to see Laura as happy as she is. Helen and her husband Phil decide to team Laura up with Phil's friend Mike Selway, but it's a match made more out of desperation than a belief that the pair would be suitable companions. Mike (the late Michael Williams, Dame Judi's real-life husband of 30 years who died of cancer in 2001), is a...
Do you love "As Time Goes By"?
Then you MUST buy this complete series. It is different, but wonderful. Dame Judi and Bob Larbey (the author of both this and "As Time Goes By") shine. Judi Dench plays opposite her now deceased husband, Michael Williams, and they are a real treat. Playing a middle-aged couple who miss as often as they click, they show, through real acting skills, what this crazy thing called love is.
I bought this, not having heard a word, or seen a bit. Because I so enjoyed "As Time Goes By". I sat down with my mom and we laughed and cried and just loved it.
DO NOT hestitate-for this cannot be available much longer-it is over 20 years old. Just go for it...you won't be sorry.
The Finest of Sitcoms!
"A Fine Romance" brings together the witty writing of Bob Larbey with the engaging comic delivery of Michael Williams and Judi Dench. The unfathomable attraction of this unlikely and very awkward couple is conveyed convincingly through the physical comedy, the sharp and seamless delivery of lines and a brilliant sense of timing. We roll in our seats as they throw buckets of water at each other, cower before the dentist and deliver a brilliant dinner party which neither could attend! As viewers we long for them to get it right at the same time as we revel in all they do hilariously wrong. While this sitcom was created in the early '80s it continues to capture and represent the struggles that all couples face as they embark on a relationship, taken of course to the comic extreme! Dench and Williams breath new life into the sitcom genre, both coming from strong theatrical backgrounds, their sense of dramatic engagement is at times unexpected but always incredibly fun.
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