Sir Michael Caine is The Amazing Clarence, an aging magician who is slowly losing his gifts. Sleight of hand doesn't work so well when your hands (and memory) are shaky. And so, in 1987, widower Clarence drives his van to an English retirement home, where time weighs heavily, even on the youngish couple (David Morrissey and Anne-Marie Duff) running the place. Their 10-year-old son, Edward (a very fine Bill Milner), is so obsessed with death, he tapes last gasps of guests, but when the young Edward and the aging Clarence meet, it is the start of an odd but beautiful friendship.

Director John Crowley (Intermission & Boy A) brings a warm but unsentimental touch to a script written by Peter Harness which was based on his own childhood experiences. Caine is magical, blending humor and heartbreak in a performance that turns this small movie into one that is richly satisfying.