The Carer is a pleasant if somewhat sentimental film, fairly predictable but still satisfying. It's a nice story, which could have been improved by being fleshed out a bit more in some areas. The principal characters are Sir Michael Gifford, an aging British theatre actor with a form of Parkinson's disease, and Dorottya, a young Hungarian woman who is hired by Gifford's daughter to be his nursemaid (the "carer" of the title). We don't learn much about Dorottya's background prior to her arrival at Gifford's estate, but she is spunky and assertive during her interview, and is allowed to stay conditionally, to see how she and Sir Michael will get along (Sir Michael is foul-mouthed, cantankerous and irascible, and has been going through caregivers at an alarming rate - he just wants to be left alone). We soon find out, along with Sir Michael, that Dorottya has some acting experience herself, and in fact can quote Shakespeare, which of course gives her some common ground with her "patient". She also stands up to his verbal abuse and is not put off by having to help him with his bodily functions, all of which makes her too good to be true: naturally they wind up hitting it off, and she is given the job on a permanent basis.
There is more to the story, which I won't go into. The writing emphasizes comedy over drama, but it feels a little simplistic and casually tossed-off: Dorottya's mispronouncing of "carer" as "career" would be a more elegantly comic irony if she made other speaking mistakes as well, but her English is otherwise flawless, so it comes off as contrived cleverness. Both Dorottya's acting aspirations and Sir Michael's illness are treated as mere plot devices, and IMO the film would have benefitted from exploring them both in more depth, especially since its running time is on the short side.
I wasn't particularly blown away by Coco König's performance as Dorottya - she does fine generally as the character, but is not convincing when she is supposed to be demonstrating Dorottya's thespian talents. Better are Emilia Fox, Anna Chancellor, and Karl Johnson, who all give excellent turns as the people living within Sir Michael's orbit, though their characters could again have been given a bit more dimension in the script. But by far the main reason to check out this film is Brian Cox's tour-de-force portrayal of Sir Michael. Cox is simply phenomenal - his superb performance is the one real standout element of the film, and watching it is like attending a master class in acting. His final scene in particular is spectacularly done, but he is brilliant throughout.
I also enjoyed Atti Pascay's music, and the film is beautifully shot by Tibor Mathé. Overall, "The Carer" is a feel-good movie which, despite some minor faults, is worth seeing for Brian Cox.
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