Ethel & Ernest

Author Raymond Briggs's loving tribute to his parents inspires this animated feature which retains the original book's homely drawing style in chronicling their decades of marriage. The couple's experiences in setting up home together in a modest London terrace, raising their young son amid the Blitz and coping with the subsequent social changes affecting postwar Britain are typical of many households, but the story celebrates their everyday capacity for keeping calm and carrying on. That said, the film-making is not without its issues, from ploddy pacing, somewhat repetitive humour and unimaginative direction, yet the overall effect remains sincere and heart-warming, buoyed by ever-cheery vocal performances from Brenda Blethyn and Jim Broadbent. It would certainly make a wonderful teaching tool to help today's youth understand the sacrifices of the wartime generation, yet the story's sense of quiet pride is also tinged with a wistful element too - we'll certainly never see these times again, not least the possibility of owning a London home on a milkman's salary.