Tea with the Dames

IFC Films | Release Date: September 21, 2018

7.5	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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GinaKOct 2, 2018

A documentary that should have been so much better, considering the wit, talent, and experience of the actresses chatting over tea (and eventually champagne): Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, and Judi Dench. The major weaknessesA documentary that should have been so much better, considering the wit, talent, and experience of the actresses chatting over tea (and eventually champagne): Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, and Judi Dench. The major weaknesses were two: not enough structure or interesting questions/topics (even the actresses looked bored sometimes) and if you like British theater, you will be left hungry to see the full performances by these actresses shown in dozens of short snippets of their work on archival film and videotape. And there was absolutely too much chatter about Laurence Olivier without any real insight or substance. More theatre gossip and more talk about how they approached their classic roles would have been welcome also. An opportunity wasted during a shallow and sometimes awkward 90 minutes that could have been so much more.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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GreatMartinOct 16, 2018

What could be more fun than spending 80 minutes with 4 female senior citizens who have been friends for years? How about 800 minutes or a lifetime?!?

Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Dame Maggie Smith have noWhat could be more fun than spending 80 minutes with 4 female senior citizens who have been friends for years? How about 800 minutes or a lifetime?!?

Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Dame Maggie Smith have no problem making fun of the Dame title but they are at the same time proud of it and having it presented to them by either Queen Elizabeth or Prince Phillip.

The 4 ladies have no problem 'dishing' themselves, each other, their husbands, their co-stars, sometimes their work but they are very respectful of the theatre, more so than the movies or television they have done.

The 4 women get together every year at Plowright's Sussex home, where she lived with Laurence Olivier, to hear what each has been up to and some of the past. We see snippets of film from past experiences only making us hungry for more just as we want more of their reminiscing of the various mediums they played in and talk about why some succeeded and others didn't.

Plowright, now blind, and Atkins may not be as well known as Dench and Smith but all are given equal time to talk about their looks, or lack of them, when they started, though nothing is referred regarding the #METOO so prevalent today while the casting couch was part of the norm when they entered the theatre world, let alone the world of film.

Instead of drinking water or tea and a toast of champagne at the end, it would have been a lot more fun if it had been reversed though all 4 Dames don't hold back in expressing their feelings nor letting their laughs come through whether laughing at themselves or each other.

Hopefully there is another hour or two that was filmed of "Tea With the Dames" and will be released on the DVD version but don't miss this just in case!… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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LegendaryLassDec 14, 2018

When you get four of the most fascinating and talented actresses with some of the longest careers in modern history together, it's nothing short of a must-see

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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