Is Anybody There?

Michael Caine's performance as a magician suffering from dementia is the best thing about director John Crowley's somewhat sentimental 1980s-set drama Is Anybody There?, in which one character nears the end of his life while another comes of age. Oscar-winner Caine here plays Clarence Parkinson, who's spent his adult life traveling across England in a camper van and performing as "The Great Clarence." Forced to end his itinerant lifestyle and check into Lark Hill, a retirement home in an English seaside village, he befriends a 10-year-old boy named Edward (Bill Milner), the son of the home's proprietors. The lad has taken an interest in parapsychology—particularly ghosts and the afterlife—and finds the old conjurer a most entertaining companion, one who teaches him valuable life lessons in addition to stimulating his imagination. Although the film is formulaic, Caine and Milner make a good pair—their chemistry translating into an easygoing charm that overcomes the script's limitations—while veterans Rosemary Harris and Sylvia Syms also shine as aged Lark Hill residents. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (7 min.) and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven film.] (E. Hulse)