“This most delightful heist movie follows Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent), a rebellious failed writer who never misses a chance to challenge authority. His biggest source of outrage: obligatory TV license fees which do not spare the elderly or aging war veterans. Out of work, with his writing dismissed and rejected by the literary gatekeepers, he devises a plan: to ransom a famous artwork, Goya’s “The Duke of Wellington,” for funds to buy some BBC for his fellow vets. Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Tea With the Dames) transforms an oddball true story into a celebration of the foundational power of family and of finding one’s voice (it’s a glorious moment, indeed, when Bunton finally gets his moment in front of the cameras).
Jim Broadbent carries the film with cheery charisma, Helen Mirren is his put-upon and justifiably impatient wife and Michell guides the proceedings with both a light touch and attention to what’s really at stake: a permanent underclass quietly fighting daily battles for its dignity” -Telluride Film Festival
