This amusing, sometimes schmaltzy British dramedy mixes meaningful ruminations about growing old with broad black comedy about the ultimately awkward nature of death. Set in the late-Thatcher-era English countryside, it falls prey to easy ’80s sight gags (dig the mullet and the acid washed jacket!) and never quite manages a deft balance between respecting the twilight of life and building broad, sitcom-ish gags around it. Nevertheless, Michael Caine is quite magnificent, making us feel the depths of his character’s despair even as we sense the fleeting possibility of redemption. (Santikos Bijou at the Crossroads, San Antonio, TX)