Kevin Kline's 'Old Lady' bites back

Actor Kevin Kline has done a little of everything when it comes to movies — from the drama of "The Big Chill," to the slapstick of "A Fish Called Wanda," and the musical stylings of the "Prairie Home Companion" movie, with Garrison Keillor and Lindsay Lohan.

But his new film "My Old Lady," which opens in the Twin Cities this weekend, is quite different. To start, the cast includes Maggie Smith, the grand dame of the television show "Downton Abbey" and Kristin Scott Thomas who is a star of both English and French language movies. The story is set in Paris, and without playing too much into stereotypes, could easily be called public radio listener catnip.

Kline plays Mathias, an American who arrives in Paris to claim the apartment his father left him in his will. This is great news because he's flat broke, and a quick sale will allow him a chance to begin rebuilding his life. There's just one problem: he has an unexpected tenant, Madame Girard. She's 90, and not going anywhere.

"So nobody's ever explained the situation?" asks Madame Girard, lapsing into French.

"What situation?" asks the increasingly concerned Mathias.

"This apartment is a viager," says the old woman.

A "viager" as Mathias quickly learns is a contract used occasionally in France. A homeowner, in this case Madame Girard, sells an apartment at a bargain price, with the understanding she may live there till she dies. The agreement has worked well for Madame Girard. She's lived for 43 years since signing the agreement with Mathias's father, and looks good for many more. And that's just the start, as Mathias also learns when he asks about rent.

"It's not rent, it's a fee," she explains patiently. "Payable to me. Each month."

"I'm sorry, payable to you?" asks Mathias.

"To me," Girard confirms.

"Until you die?" gasps Mathias, aghast.

"And not a minute afterwards," she says.

That's where things begin to get complicated.

"I've found it very difficult to describe to people," Kline said. "They want to know, is it a romantic comedy? Is it a dramedy? Is it a drama? Is it a tragedy? And I just want to say, 'Yes, keep going..."

"My Old Lady" is director Israel Horovitz's adaptation of his own stage-play. The comic premise is just the top layer of a taut examination of family secrets, and the responsibilities generations have to each other. Mathias can't decide whether his father's gift of the apartment is a gesture of love, or one final contemptuous jab. The film swings from moments of hilarity to tear-jerking sadness.

Kline said it's an example of Horovitz's skillful writing, which has always attracted him to the director's work.

The film captures "the thin line between comedy and tragedy, between drama and farce, if you will, and between silliness and profundity," Kline said.

He liked the way that Horovitz, who is now in his mid-70s, constantly tweaked the script. On set, the director was all for spontaneous change, even at the last minute adding a sequence in which Kline had to sing an operatic duet. Kline said the actors had to quickly "Google the lyrics."

At this stage in his career, Kline said, he's lucky that he can seek such complex roles. He also jumped at the chance to work with Smith and Scott Thomas, who plays Madame Girard's daughter Chloe.

Kline said they didn't want to talk much about the script. "They just did it," he said, adding that is his preferred method too. He does however remember getting a stare and an instruction from Smith when he extemporized a little too much.

"Just nod when you are finished," Kline said he was told. "So I know it's time for my line, because I never know when you are finished."

While Kline likes "My Old Lady" he said he's the last person to ask whether it will be a popular success. He didn't think anyone would go to see the "Big Chill," and was surprised how poorly the apartheid drama "Cry Freedom" did at the U.S. box office.

"And I also agree with the people who say that you really can't judge a movie until it's been around for 10 years," he said.

By then, he should have recovered from those blistering Maggie Smith stares.