With a legendary reputation such as those Dames which came before and after her, this next nominee stands among over a dozen cast members, but has an uncanny ability (like a Whitty or a Dench) to stand out above the rest with barely having to "actively" do much. But this Grand Dame never just sits back and wallows, she jumps above expectations and continuously surprises with all sorts of goodies - so its no surprise that with tea at four, dinner at eight, and...murder at midnight that Oscar went on to nominate the wicked shenanigans of...
Maggie Smith plays Constance, Countess of Trentham, one of the many guests invited to a wealthy English country house for a shooting party one weekend.
She's invited to this elaborate get-together because she just happens to be the aunt of Sylvia McCordle (a sly Kristen Scott Thomas) who's the wife of William McCordle who's hosting the party. Because her late husband left her nothing when he passed, Constance has been receiving money from William, and that's why she (as well as everyone else) hates him but attends; because they are all looking out for themselves and trying to get all they can out of the sitatution they agreed to become involved in.
Of course, it doesn't help her situation that Constance is, well lets say, at bit...snobbish? Yessire, this old biddy has got a bit of an attitude when it comes to just about everything, and therefore the film uses Smith for two main tasks -- to be another possible suspect in a tangled web of party guests, and to be the central, main source for some delicious comic relief amid the stuffy Britishy-ness (she, too, is of course British but you know what I mean).
To simply put it, Maggie Smith does her Maggie Smith-thing here, by delivering a hefty dose of genuine comedy, with the actress deriving the laughs from Constance's prickly situation (when William is planning on cutting off the alimony) which makes her stubborn, unsatisfaction all the more hilarious. Instead of just playing the character as just a snobby rich-bitch, Smith channels her comedic gifts through the character instead of over her, where therefore keeps Constance in the same game as the others around.
Whether she's insulting guests at the dinner table ("but none of us will be seeing it"), or...
...or trying her hardest to ignore the awful piano playing by distracting herself with a game of Bridge...
...or just kickin' back and ordering her maid around, Smith is, as always, a genuine treat. Her trademark, sharp timing combined with some gut-busting line readings, makes for some serious fun while being around an enviorment that tries its damnedest to be funny but sinks into overall dullness. (The film has its moments of greatness, no doubt, and its expertly crafted, but the pacing and narrative just become -- for me -- rather exhausting and cloyed it is own stuffiness; unlike Altman's Nashville).
Smith gives the proceedings a more inviting feel, and its that levity which keeps her afloat when some of the others have sunk below because they simply miss what Smith infuses into Constance; a sharp, yet light comic edge which helps keeps the character from shriveling up into some obnoxious caricature.
It's a thin role with hardly any meat on its bones as written, but Maggie Smith, like the pro she is, elevates both the character and the film by making full use of her gifts as a comedienne. She milks the part in every way, and ends up giving a vividly rich comic performance.
Snobbish perfection in its finest form, and even, indeed, in every bone of her body.
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