REVIEW: ‘Tea With the Dames,’ starring Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith

Photo: Tea With the Dames features, from left, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench. Photo courtesy of IFC Films / Provided with permission.

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Tea With the Dames, an IFC Films and Sundance Selects release now available on Blu-ray, offers a rare chance to be a fly on the wall for a group conversation that seems as if it’s been going on for decades. Four British movie and theater actors — all dames — catch up while sipping tea, water and Champagne. Their talk is always fascinating and funny, and often includes historical bits about the many parts they’ve performed, in particular their Shakespearean roles.

The dames are — in alphabetical order because they are equally marvelous — Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith. They are wonderful conversationalists, and their shared memory is extremely valuable for the purposes of theater, film and TV history.

There are too many projects that these four performers have been associated with to select only a few to highlight. There are quick references to Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, the James Bond films and Tea With Mussolini, but honestly those are the more recent additions to the résumé. The vastly more interesting inclusions are the many staged dramas and TV films they performed in at the beginning of their respective careers — in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The clips and photos from their early work are informative and clearly showcase their almost natural ability to turn a phrase and command a theater of 1,000 patrons.

Some of the documentary’s accoutrement can be annoying and needless. Honestly, a stationary camera could have done just as well for this elongated conversation (more like a series of conversations, probably over a couple days). On occasion a handheld camera, perhaps held by director Roger Michell, shakes back and forth; sometimes the photographer steps in front of the lens. There’s a real DIY element to Tea With the Dames, and the actors sometimes point out the production team in the background — but, was such an approach necessary? The point of this feature are the stories.

Each of the dames has a unique personality and sense of humor. Smith is clearly the comedian of the crew, and it’s simply mesmerizing watching her talk (this will not be a news flash for Downton devotees). Dench seems more contemplative. Plowright has some fascinating anecdotes about her early roles and how she fell in love with Laurence Olivier (one story about a young Plowright writing a fan letter to Olivier is particularly telling). Atkins offers so many quality additions to the talk, in particular a revealing comment about her fear of performing Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (Dench seems to be the only one of the four to play the part in London).

Inevitably the conversation steers toward legacy and death. At the time of the filming, the actors were octogenarians, but they don’t really take the baton and talk about retirement or how they will be remembered, which is kind of inspiring. They are seemingly respectful of this new stage in life, but they are not desirous to dwell on that which cannot be changed.

There are few people in the world who deserve almost 90 minutes of film to simply talk, but for Atkins, Dench, Plowright and Smith, 90 hours would not have been enough.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Tea With the Dames (2018). Directed by Roger Michell. Featuring Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith. Running time: 84 minutes. Rating: