Review of movie 'A Late Quartet'

                 'A Late Quartet' starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener. Directed by Yaron Zilberman. 106 minutes long.


       The Fuge String Quartet that plays classical music is based in New York City. It travels around the world performing, but now life and love pains nearly tear it apart at home.
     "I think you're an amazing violinist," Juliette played by Catherine Keener, who plays the viola in the quartet tells her husband Robert played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. But Robert who plays the second violin in the quartet, wants to sometimes be the quartet's first violinist. But this job is taken up by Daniel, who Robert resents. Robert has a brief fling with a flamenco dancer. When Juliette finds out about this romance she throws Robert out of their house.
     Then Daniel falls in love with Robert and Juliette's daughter Alexandra. Meanwhile, Peter the aging cellist in the quartet played by Christopher Walken, now has Parkinson's disease. And you can't play the big heavy cello when Parkinson's makes your hands and body shake.
      This film doesn't just zero in on the problems of love and ageing. It's also full of beautiful classical music and lovely camera shots of a snowbound New York City.
     "If music be the food of life/play on," Shakespeare wrote in the opening of 'Twelth Night". Peter, the aging cellist seems to prefer T.S. Eliot, whose poetry about Beethoven's late great quartets, he quotes to his class of young students.
     But whatever music or poetry you like or don't like, 'A Late Quartet' Fills more than an hour-and-a-half with fine acting and great but seldom heard music. Yaron Zilberman has directed a pretty good flick that in sensitiveness and intelligence stands light years away from the mostly juvenile fare that's served up these days on many movie screens.