The Lady in the Van on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus states, "Led by a marvelous performance from Maggie Smith, "Lady in the Van" wrings poignant, often hilarious insight from its fact-based source material." On Metacritic the film holds a score of 70 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Guy Lodge, of "Variety" magazine, attended the worldwide premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. After the screening, he described Smith's portrayal of Mary Shepherd as "one of the most tailor-made leading roles of her late career". Even though, he says, the film is "low
The Van (1977 film) The Van (1977 film) The Van is a low-budget teenage comedy film directed by Sam Grossman, primarily released to drive-in theaters in 1977. It was released at the height of the vansploitation genre, and was followed by the 1978 film "Malibu Beach", in which Stephen Oliver reprised his role as bully Dugan Hicks. High school graduate Bobby buys a customized 1976 Dodge D300 Tradesman van (including a waterbed) with his college savings to pick up women. His desperate quest for sex leads him into a number of disappointing experiences. His ultimate goal is to win over Sally, the blonde bombshell