Head Full of Honey

A beloved grandpa's increasingly erratic behaviour throws his family into chaos, with only his grand-daughter Matilda able to get a handle on his encroaching dementia in this serio-comic English-language remake of hit 2014 German film Honig im Kopf. Sadly, much is lost in translation by relocating to (supposedly) English settings so wide of the mark that they're akin to some alternative universe. Nick Nolte ambles through it all amiably enough as the befuddled pensioner, though Matt Dillon (the son in denial) and Emily Mortimer (fraught daughter-in-law) struggle with the clunky dialogue, while intermittent knockabout comedy set-pieces prove a mirth-free zone. The emotional potential in the material is obvious, but here the effect is trite and saccharine, not helped by a zero-credibility framing device sending the dotty old geezer and Matilda (played by Nolte's daughter in her movie debut) on an unaccompanied jaunt from London to Venice. There's no doubting the laudable intentions to confront the realities of Alzheimer's in an audience-friendly way, but the execution, frankly, verges on the catastrophic. Terribly tough going.