AllMovie

As a film, Camilla is, at best, average, the kind that a person can watch while doing something else without ever worrying that he or she will have missed an important or unexpected plot turn. As a showcase for the talents of the late Jessica Tandy, however, Camilla works very well. Tandy is positively luminous in what would turn out to be her last starring role on the big screen, taking situations that have been used in film for years and making them seem fresh and, at times, even magical. Tandy is even able to pull off a skinny-dipping scene that, in other hands, would come across as embarrassing, coy, or campy. There's a glow radiating from Tandy, a ferocious attachment to living life to the fullest that is practically palpable and goes a long way toward making the by-the-numbers twists of the plot palatable. Although Camilla is a buddy movie, the part of Freda is fairly thankless. Yet Bridget Fonda does quite well with it; she's especially effective in those moments when she merely registers her character's reaction to and enjoyment of her newfound, strange friend. If she's less effective when her character is going through the angst of deciding about her career, it's largely due to a failure in the writing, not in the actress. Deepa Mehta has directed with sensitivity, if less imagination, than one would hope, and the supporting cast is generally good.