Adapted by Name the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas from the 2018 play by Alan Bennett, set in a geriatric hospital unit in Yorkshire populated by lovable eccentrics and starring a formidable choice of seasoned British performing expertise (Judi Dench, Jennifer Saunders, David Bradley and Derek Jacobi star), Allelujah must be a slam dunk of a crowd-pleaser. Sadly, Richard Eyre’s movie is jarringly uneven: such a collision of tones and conflicting messages that it undermines its personal earnest coda in assist of the NHS.
The hospital is threatened by penny-pinching authorities officers. The medical employees wrestle on, undaunted. However what appears to be a stirring story of a neighborhood standing up towards the powers that be takes a darker flip because the story swerves unexpectedly – and quite clumsily – into thriller territory.
