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As Bonneville’s Vanya and Field’s Sonya take shelter from the devastation of their dreams in the daily grind of their work, an image of life as it is authentically experienced is renewed onstage.

At one point, Melanie Field, who plays Sonya, mocks the plummy British sound of Bonneville’s Vanya.

Bonneville, resembling a canceled journalist wallowing in sarcasm with a bottle of booze, lends Vanya a flailing, self-deprecating levity.

It’s a credit to Bonneville’s performance that we feel the character’s disappointment in love and in life all the more acutely.

The film, that includes a return of much loved cast members including Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer and Hugh Bonneville, opened in UK cinemas on Friday 8 November.