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Is Anybody There?

Is Anybody There?

Drama · 2009

A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.

Movie details

Is Anybody There?

2009 Drama 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.6 / 10

5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

65 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

54 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Is Anybody There??

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway

Drama · 1993

Frank, a retired Irish seaman, and Walter, a retired Cuban barber, are two lonely old men trapped in the emptiness of their own lives. When they meet in a park Frank is able to start a conversation after several attempts. They begin to spend time together and become friends. But because of their different characters they often quarrel with each other and finally seperate after Frank misbehaves to Walter's friend Elaine.

Armageddon Time

Armageddon Time

Drama · 2022

In 1980, Queens, New York, a young Jewish boy befriends a rebellious African-American classmate to the disapproval of his privileged family and begins to reckon with growing up in a world of inequality and prejudice.

Paradise

Paradise

Drama · 1991

A 10-year-old boy spends a summer in the country with a childless couple and a precocious girl.

Digging to China

Digging to China

Drama · 1997

Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.

September

September

Drama · 1987

After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer. Lane's mother, Diane, has recently arrived with her husband Lloyd, Lane's stepfather. Lane is close to two neighbors: Peter, and Howard. Howard is in love with Lane, Lane is in love with Peter, and Peter is in love with Stephanie.

Everybody's Fine

Everybody's Fine

Drama · 2009

Eight months after the death of his wife, Frank Goode looks forward to a reunion with his four adult children. When all of them cancel their visits at the last minute, Frank, against the advice of his doctor, sets out on a road trip to reconnect with his offspring. As he visits each one in turn, Frank finds that his children's lives are not quite as picture-perfect as they've made them out to be.

Penguin Bloom

Penguin Bloom

Drama · 2021

When an unlikely ally enters the Bloom family's world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin, the bird’s arrival makes a profound difference in the struggling family’s life.

Fathers and Daughters

Fathers and Daughters

Drama · 2015

A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.

Phoebe in Wonderland

Phoebe in Wonderland

Drama · 2008

The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.

Nowhere Special

Nowhere Special

Drama · 2020

John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he attempts to find a new, perfect family for Michael, determined to shield him from the terrible reality of the situation.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Crowley

Written by

Peter Harness

Michael Caine

Michael Caine

Clarence

Bill Milner

Bill Milner

Edward

David Morrissey

David Morrissey

Dad

Anne-Marie Duff

Anne-Marie Duff

Mum

Rosemary Harris

Rosemary Harris

Elsie

Ralph Riach

Ralph Riach

Clive

Linzey Cocker

Linzey Cocker

Tanya

Court is in session

Put Is Anybody There? on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.