Mrs. Caldicot's Cabbage War

The British actress Pauline Collins had a middle class revolution as Shirley Valentine and now she?s doing it again in Mrs. Caldicott?s Cabbage War. Mrs Caldicott, Collins, doesn?t quite realise how poorly she?s been treated by her husband until he dies ? death by cricket ball. But like father, like son: Derek, Peter Capaldi is only too willing to be bullied by his ambitious wife to get their hands on the family home so the site can be developed. Before you know it Mrs. Caldicott is whipped off to an old persons? home owned by the corporation where her son works. She joins the fate of the other inhabitants who are drugged into apathy and fed cabbage day after day. That?s until she learns how to avoid the tranquillizers and starts doing something about the way she and her fellow sufferers are treated. This appallingly old-fashioned film has little to redeem it. There are no surprises, every ingredient is obvious -, the screenplay by Malcolm Stone, Ian Sharp?s direction, and the performances which run the gamut from smug to embarrassingly over the top. Mrs Caldicott?s Cabbage War screams telemovie and even there it looks like something that we might have seen decades ago.