As Stevens and Kenton work together, a mutual attractive becomes apparent that neither will acknowledge, even to themselves. Stevens suppresses his emotions completely, and apparently has done so since childhood. Kenton regularly tries to provoke Stevens into revealing his feelings, but he actually does so only once, when he drops a costly bottle of vintage wine on the stone steps of the wine cellar.
Two famous names in minor roles are Christopher Reeve, who buys the manor after Lord Darlington gives up his ghost, and Hugh Grant, who is Darlington's (understandably) anti-Nazi godson.
How others will see it. The cinematography is magnificent. The sets and costumes are excellent. The cast is exemplary. The story is interesting. All that is left to go wrong is the screenplay and direction.
But those are and were highly regarded as well. The movie picked up eight Oscar nominations, including the categories of Best Director and best adapted screenplay. The imdb.com user ratings are extremely high, except among women under 18, who presumably find it boring, and wonder why Hannibal Lecter doesn't bite anyone.
How I felt about it. We know that Lord Darlington was wrong to appease the Nazis. We know that Kenton is exasperated by Stevens' inability to show emotions. We know that Stevens harbors a well hidden lust for Kenton, which shows itself when she is trying to wrest the book from him. We suspect that Kenton may actually be in love with Stevens, and marries another doltish servant only as the ultimate test to draw a meaningful reaction out of Stevens. But Stevens runs on autopilot, and there are simply no stormy feelings deep in his soul. He's a butler, a head servant, and has no other identity.
Thus, The Remains of the Day answers definitively all the questions it raises, except one. Why does the comparatively emotional Miss Kenton harbor a crush for her older, aloof, and asexual taskmaster? If this were an American film, Kenton would, in the climactic scene, grab Stevens, shake him, and proclaim to him, "Dammit, I am a woman! Can't you see that? Are you a robot?" They would then kiss passionately, and the music would swell on course to a happy ending.
But this is not the proper English way to express oneself, even if you were not manor-born. Better to tease and test the object of your affections, in the hopes that a light will come on in his duty-obsessed mind.
But there's nobody home, even after the passage of 20 years. Perhaps that is the real reason why Miss Kenton decides not to return to the Darlington mansion. Babysitting a grandchild is just an excuse.