Very well executed

Please don't spend money on this.

Absolutely the worst movie.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I have never seen the play, but based on the movie I'm sure it is a deeply moving piece beautifully crafted for minimalist theater. A somewhat meta-King Lear, Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen are masterful and charming in this adaptation. However, all the trappings of a film feel unnecessary. There's something just a bit off about watching a movie both celebrating and mourning the desperation, obsession, and beauty of the theater. This movie was not at all bad, but it's something that needs you to emotionally connect and watching it on screen creates a degree of separation that hinders that connection. If The Dresser were to show up on stage I would see it in a heartbeat, but I can't say that it's something I would ever watch on film a second time.

My goodness, you don't get better than this. Tony Hopkins and Ian McKellen are perfectly cast in this authentic feeling take on travelling theatre during the second world war. Ill and aged, 'Sir' has premonitions, Norman (the Dresser) is desperate to hang on to what little life he has as Sir's most trusted aide. Without his role he has nothing. Norman is so caught up in his own anxieties he misses the clues to Sir's nagging self-doubts, his statements that 'he can't go on' and that 'really he should be resting at home'. Hopkins's portrayal is so subtle it is heart rending. This subtlety cannot be gained on stage as stray tears cannot be seen from the stalls let alone the gallery. McKellen, meanwhile, fusses and flaps with perfectly understood gay mannerisms for the period setting. As Norman, he gets perfectly right the intonation in his voice as he ducks and bows to Sir. These two actors provide stand out performances but this is not to commend all the other actors who also pull off incredibly touching and believable performances. Oh yes, this is worth watching, just be prepared to be left bereft.

The new BBC-Starz production of Ronald Harwood's 'The Dresser' is a riveting play-within-a-play and then some that throws its arms around the subjects of life, lessened dreams and simply getting on with it.Directed and adapted by Richard Eyre with a cast headed by Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Watson, the work focuses on a Shakespearean troupe that tours the outskirts of England (very pointedly, not London) during the bombing, quite literally, of that country during World War II. Each night the troupe performs a different Shakespearean play, come hell or high water. Tonight, it's "King Lear," with Hopkins's character, who is called Sir (for the outside hope that he will one day be knighted by the Queen), in the lead.Attending him backstage is his loyal dresser _ his costume man _ Norman, played by Ian McKellen.What transpires is a nigh-on perfect production (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a perfect 100%) that sails along all too quickly with no down spots, not only giving us a dead-on accurate view of the theatrical world and those who dedicate their lives to it if even in the shadows, but as fine a treatise on life and love as you've experienced in any medium anywhere, at any time.The story opens as we await the arrival of Sir from the hospital, with a conversation between the long-suffering dresser Norman and Her Ladyship (Emily Watson, in another terrific turn), an aging actress pressed into playing one of Lear's daughters, Cordelia, who knows she's too old for the role _ slashing reviews never let her forget it _ but who stays with it because of her love for Sir and the hope he will leave the business and settle down with her.Ah, but Her Ladyship isn't the only woman in love with Sir. There's also Madge, the tough stage manager. As played by the wildly versatile Sarah Lancashire, whom we've seen portray everything from hard-bitten cops to frazzled shopkeepers, it's a character with more layers than the proverbial onion.What's wrong with Sir, is it a physical problem or mental? Will he survive? Will he show up?When the old actor finally does arrive backstage spouting a riff of quotations, his own mixed with Shakespeare's, we worry that he might expire before he can be carted before the footlights.Watching McKellen and Hopkins in apparently their first performance together is like watching two world-class surgeons at the top of their games doing open-heart surgery on the same patient at the same time. It's overwhelming. But the good news is that the two great actors don't compete for attention and become show-boats. Instead they have a mutual trust and respect for each other that is palpable. The characters benefit greatly from this, and so do we.One of the production's most effective, poignant and revealing moments is provided by the veteran actor Edward Fox, who portrays a supporting performer trapped in a "play-as-cast" cycle, lesser parts falling somewhere between cameos and spear carriers. His final speech to Sir not only encapsulates the lot of actors universally, but the needs and longings of people outside the business as well."The Dresser" has been previously presented in the U.K. and on Broadway, as well as in a 1983 film, but this version takes a back seat to none other and may well be the best offering yet. It comes with the highest recommendation.

Inevitably Richard Eyre's remake of Ronald Harwood's 1980 play is going to be compared with Peter Yates's 1983 film starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. In thematic terms, this production more than holds its own. Eyre stresses the symbiotic bond between Sir (Anthony Hopkins) and Norman (Ian McKellen) through a clever use of grouping; the two of them are invariably seen together in the same shot, even when Norman is standing some way away from his employer. The two men are like Yin and Yang; neither can exist without the other. Norman has no life other than within the touring company; while Sir has the undoubted talent to run the outfit on his own, he needs a sounding-board, and Norman more than adequately fulfills the role. We also get some sense of why Shakespeare is so important to Sir, his company, and his audiences. For Sir it is a means of defining his identity; perhaps more than living with his wife Pussy (aka Her Ladyship) (Emily Watson). Through Shakespeare he can maintain a fantasy-world of power in which he exists at the top of the tree, and can maintain a benevolent despotism over the remainder of his company. Even when at the limits of sanity, it is Shakespeare who keeps him going. For the company, the chance to work in Shakespeare is equally identity-defining. Thornton (Edward Fox) is a bit-part player given an unexpected chance to play the Fool in KING LEAR. After a lifetime in the shadows, he has the chance to become someone, even if he might lack the talent to do so. Although the company might be tatty, the sets and costumes primitive, it can still provide opportunities that might never exist elsewhere. For audiences, the chance to see Sir performing during the midst of an air-raid represents an opportunity not only to see Shakespeare live, but to share in a collective experience that provides security for everyone. Yet the coherence of this production has been disrupted somewhat by the casting of Hopkins in the role of Sir. An undoubted talent in his own right, he lacks the power and the star quality demanded by the role; we have to know that Sir is a romantic talent, someone who can attract attention through sheer emotional power. Hopkins's rendition of Sir as King Lear is far too low-key in tone; it does not demonstrate the character's suffering, and thereby prove just how much the actor welcomes the role. Ian McKellen makes a convincing Norman, all bird-like gestures and conscious camp. One memorable moment occurs right at the end of the production, when Sir has passed away. Norman reads the beginnings of the autobiography Sir has written; finds his name absent; slumps in a chair and sticks his tongue out like a child towards Sir's corpse. He wants to break free of the dead actor's influence, but knows that he cannot. The production ends with a shot of the theater in which Sir dies, looking out from the stage into the auditorium. A stagehand crosses the playing area; the lights go out and the action fades to black. This moment emphasizes just how much a story of the theater THE DRESSER is; roles matter more than truth for everyone.