This quadripartite tale of four groups (three couples and one pair of couples) at a Los Angeles hotel on the night of the Oscars is, inevitably, a tale of parts.

We decided to watch in honour of Maggie Smith, who died the other day, and who won an Oscar for her role as an actress nominated for an Oscar. That feels like a sort of irony, but is nothing to do with the film itself.

To my mind we have two good stories — the Maggie Smith/Michael Caine and the Jane Fonda/Alan Alda ones — and two others that vary from farce to racist stereotyping, without adding much to the overall experience.

Which is a shame, because the two good parts are pretty good.