It's a joy to watch these four legends interact, reminisce, laugh and mess with each other (Maggie Smith is on typically witty form), the occasional senility giving it extra charm. However, the film doesn't reach its full potential. It's unclear if the aim was to capture an organic conversation or orchestrate an interview, and neither is achieved well enough: the former is undermined by outside interference and occasional awkwardness, whereas the latter was in need of more insightful questions.

Everything feels rather forced. The questions were really boring and sometimes just silly. And this constant "Talk about that" or "Talk about this" is just annoying. The dames are wonderful. Production - horrendous. This project being a documentary it was a production team's job to create a relaxed atmosphere and make all the participants feel it. Participants were nothing like relaxed. Constant nudging towards this or that subject did nothing to improve it. Overall, the idea was good, but execution ruined it.

While this was interesting it was one of those cases where the trailer made it seem more interesting than it was.

An absolute must-see. Definitely filled with wonderful laughter, heart-warming laughter. But overall the tone of the whole "film", or documentary, whatever you want to call it, has left me feeling seriously haunted. There is an unexpected (but not at all surprising, come to think of it) deep and serious homage to Shakespeare. The film itself seems to be capturing the lives of these beautiful women vanishing into thin air (as Judi alludes to in a concluding recitation from the famous lines of Prospero), and it's both beautiful, endearing, inspiring, funny, and fun...but, at the same time tragic, frightening, depressing, and I guess humbling. We are the stuff but which dreams are made on -- Maggie hasn't even seen a single episode of Downton Abbey (she jokes she better make "haste" but it's obvious she never will). These wonderful women are so powerful, are so filled with magic, have done so much with their lives, and yet still here we witness their vanishing. And soon nothing will remain of them at all......except this and countless wonderful other films!! So the good news I guess is thank goodness some of it was captured. Though I suppose ultimately even all that will be forgotten, too.

Adorei, divertido espontâneo, gerou mais entretenimento do que eu imaginava, revelações interessantes e até mesmo surpreendentes, como quando elas afirmam que toda vez que vão entrar no palco ainda tremem, ou mesmo gravar uma cena como se estivessem prendendo a respiração até que tudo termine, pois sempre imaginei que com o tempo, soasse tão natural e espontâneo, quase entediante, como normalmente qualquer outra profissão...

Like wrapping up in a warm blanket. A cosy, joyful hour with the best.

Just grand- these ladies are brilliant in mind and spirit. About 80 min. worth of reminiscence of long, remarkable careers, husbands, and their craft. Fascinating, heartwarming, and damned funny, I recommend this for fans of the theater an esp. British cinema. 3.6 stars

Horribly made and even worse editing. Made the great ladies of movies look like doddering old fools. They should have sued. They should have brought in someone who knew what they were doing to interview them.

Love all these actresses. This film was boring.

Just love all of these greatest ladies of the theater of our time. Their sense of camaraderie and amused wit is so much fun to view! Charming and delightful afternoon!

What a delightful Sunday watch it was for me. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Watching these four grand Dames of England sit down and talk about their self-doubts, nerves before performances, aging, marriages, reviewers, and their interactions with fellow actors and directors was wonderful. Adding to this, some amazing archival footage of some of their performances on stage and screen was certainly a bonus. However, to be honest, the film got off to a disjointed start and there were some awkward moments as well. But things went much smoother as it progressed and there was also some laugh out loud humor. Like Judi Dench's hilarious description of how she called the paramedics when she was bitten by a bee in the backside and the very young EMT tech asked if she had a carer (in the USA a home aide) how she became furious and told him to "f-off". Overall, director Roger Michell's questions to the four actresses from the wings as the film rolled did not work well, But just to see and hear these grand Dames together was worth the price of admission to me.

It was high tea every time I watched in these dames. They were incredibly witty, humble, humorous, interesting ,unique, and without ego. They were like just us. If we 're that witty, humble, etc... of course. I'd take tea anytime with these great Dames.

It was pure delight watching and listening to these legends reminisce about their film and stage careers. The best unscripted thing. They were all exquisite. It can also a bit emotional as they talk about how ageing has affected all of them.

Unless you are a huge fan of these ladies, I don't recommend watching this documentary.

I didn't like this movie because of the direction not because the dames. The ladies themselves are terrific, but much too much was made of their aging and much too little was made of their experiences as actresses during their lifetimes. What was it like being a young actress? Who helped them who hindered them? It would have been good to know more about their relationships with each other and how they've helped or hindered each other through the decades that they've been actresses. I would have liked to have a lot fewer long shots emphasizing that they have in fact gotten old.

Facades that are dumbed down for the bourgeoisie

unorthodox but it satisfies the nosiness of people who want to gossip about their encounters in the world.

What could be more fun than spending 80 minutes with 4 female senior citizens who have been friends for years? How about 800 minutes or a lifetime?!? Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Dame Maggie Smith have no problem making fun of the Dame title but they are at the same time proud of it and having it presented to them by either Queen Elizabeth or Prince Phillip. The 4 ladies have no problem 'dishing' themselves, each other, their husbands, their co-stars, sometimes their work but they are very respectful of the theatre, more so than the movies or television they have done. The 4 women get together every year at Plowright's Sussex home, where she lived with Laurence Olivier, to hear what each has been up to and some of the past. We see snippets of film from past experiences only making us hungry for more just as we want more of their reminiscing of the various mediums they played in and talk about why some succeeded and others didn't. Plowright, now blind, and Atkins may not be as well known as Dench and Smith but all are given equal time to talk about their looks, or lack of them, when they started, though nothing is referred regarding the #METOO so prevalent today while the casting couch was part of the norm when they entered the theatre world, let alone the world of film. Instead of drinking water or tea and a toast of champagne at the end, it would have been a lot more fun if it had been reversed though all 4 Dames don't hold back in expressing their feelings nor letting their laughs come through whether laughing at themselves or each other. Hopefully there is another hour or two that was filmed of "Tea With the Dames" and will be released on the DVD version but don't miss this just in case!

Very enjoyable. Could have watched it forever. Yet, even though I was drinking tea while watching it, they *didn't*. Maggie Smith has so many zingers, wish I had written them down.