If youâve heard anything about The Lady in the Van, you wonât be surprised to hear that I think Maggie Smith is fucking fantastic. In this âmostly true storyâ written by celebrated playwright Alan Bennett, Smith portrays Miss Shepherd, a homeless woman who parked her van in Bennettâs driveway for 15 years. Smithâs demeanor and turns of mood are convincing and complicated. Her face, expressive as always, works especially hard during her many scenes shot inside the van. And it doesnât rest entirely on her actingâthe character, first performed by Smith onstage in London in 1999, is written beautifully, revealed slowly in layers over the course of the film.
However, The Lady in the Van has a second plotline, and itâs far less enchanting. Alan Bennett, played by Alex Jennings, is split up into two characters (one for living, one for writing), and the audience is forced to watch the playwright construct the work⌠and justify his decision to write about Miss Shepherd in the first place.
Bennett is known for pushing boundaries in terms of perspective and smartly self-conscious writing, but in this case, it feels like a crutch that should have been abandoned in an early draft. There are a few intriguing parts of the Bennett duoâhis quiet gay romances, necessarily hushed for the time and place, and his relationship with the homeless woman he knew as Miss Mary Shepherdâbut most of the character, and Jenningsâs performance, comes off as cookie cutter âmopey writer.â (Even personally identifying with the mopey writer trope didnât make it engaging.) The oddest of the story lines revolves around Bennett and his mother, and it appears as a thin, desperate attempt to make Miss Shepherdâs continued presence a plot point in Bennettâs own narrative.
Maggie Smith as Miss Shepherd is plenty on her own. Going into the theater, I was nervous that viewers would find her hilarious for the wrong reasonsâthat her pained, contorted face and dirty rags would be the punch line. And they were sometimes the punch line, along with jokes about her shit and hygieneâbut the moments of real humor were in her interactions with various residents and passersby. Well-meaning neighbors, just wanting to brighten the homeless womanâs day, have to stand back in shock as she scoffs at their attempts. From inside her van, she reluctantly accepts visitors, but with the caveat that she is a very busy woman with other fish to fry.
After receiving a gift, she exclaims âFLOWERS?â indignantly. âIâve got enough on my plate without flowers!â The joke isnât that sheâs homeless and has nothing better to do, but about the preconceived notions the residents of the street have about herâthat sheâll welcome their advances, and that sheâll be grateful for everything that they reluctantly offer her. The best conflict on that quiet street in Camden Town is between Miss Shepherd and her intrusive, noisy neighbors.
While watching The Lady in the Van, focus on the lady in the van. Donât dwell on the overwrought self-consciousness, and god forbid, donât watch this movie expecting a summary depiction of homelessness. Just take in Maggie Smithâs face as it twists into panic and sorrow and glee, and enjoy the movie version of an intelligent theatrical production decades in the making.