Quartet is an inoffensive little film that stubbornly refuses to be anything more than that. The main problem with the film is the script – character development is clumsy, the humor is sadly flat, and the intellectual content is kind of dull and unengaging. I also think the two leading men were cast wrong. Maggie Smith gives a bright and warm performance, but she does not have enough lines or an interesting enough character to really propel the film anywhere substantive. Dustin Hoffman’s direction is kind of average, no worse; again, it’s the script and story that holds everything down.

Things are pretty grim in theaters right now. If you’re in the mood for a sweet, goodhearted, light movie about music and old age, you might consider it. Just don’t expect too much.