Albert Nobbs

Glenn Close gives it her all as the title character, a woman dressed as a man in 19th-century Ireland, working as a waiter and saving money to buy a tobacco shop. Having spent so much time as a man, Albert sees trying to take a wife as the next logical step, and tries courting a fellow hotel employee played by Mia Wasikowska. Little does Albert know that the prospective wife is a user, simply trying to score bounty for her and her boyfriend (Aaron Johnson). Janet McTeer plays another woman masquerading as a man in order to get work. The whole scenario seems unlikely—both Close and McTeer are rather unconvincing as men—and the story fails to be compelling. Still, Close provides some genuinely moving moments, even if she does look like an odd combination of Conan O’Brien and Gabriel Byrne.