What if I told you that Terrance Stamp could not only play the lead in a movie about a devoted husband dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer, but that he could melt your heart doing it? You’d say I was nuts, right? And I’d expect you to say that, because until last night all I’d ever seen Terrance Stamp play were psychopathic killers, when he wasn’t horribly miscast as, say, an astronaut looking for God on Mars.

And to be sure, I’m thinking the makers of Unfinished Song cast Stamp because they needed a crusty curmudgeon and that’s somebody everyone would instantly believe Stamp would play. So it surprised the hell out of me even more that he could not only convincingly play the tender parts, but that I cried my eyes out through most of the movie.

Bravo, Terrance Stamp.

It would be utterly wretched of me not to mention what a great performance the rest of the cast turned in as well. Bravo as well to Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arterton, and Christopher Eccleston, to name just the principles. My hankie was soaked. Nicely done.