Pro: They voters really, really like six-time nominee Judi Dench – so much so that she won for just eight minutes' work in “Shakespeare in Love,” while her phoned-in performance in the execrable “Mrs. Henderson Presents” won her a nomination in a Best Actress race that, like this one, was widely seen as less than stellar. Meanwhile, this cheery geriatric comedy is catnip to a certain (sizable) sect of voters.

Con: With all due respect, I think even Dench herself would admit that the performance isn't all that – she classes up the joint with her usual poise and dry comic timing, but in a large ensemble of similarly classy Brits, no one's really singled her out for praise. A comedy Globe nod is a given, but it'd represent a serious failure of imagination on the Academy's part if she made it in.

- Guy Lodge