The Queen

 2/4

Starring: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, Alex Jennings, Helen McCrory

Rated PG-13 for Brief Strong Language

If the British monarchy is good for nothing else, it's superb. at producing the subjects of films. -Roger Ebert

Indeed, the British Royals have been and will be the subject of countless fantastic films.  "Elizabeth" is one.  "The King's Speech" is another.  There's something about that mixture of power, politics and tradition that is so intriguing.  But as much as I might like to add "The Queen" to that list, I cannot.  Rather than fascinate me, "The Queen" just bored me.

It's August 1997.  Tony Blair (Sheen), a populist progressive with a platform geared towards modernization, has just been elected Prime Minister.  No sooner has he met with the Queen (Mirren) than they both receive terrible news: Princess Diana has died in a car accident.  It's a crisis, to be sure, but Tony and the Queen have differing views on how to deal with it.  The Queen prefers that it be handled privately.  After all, Diana was no longer royalty having divorced Charles (Jennings) a number of years before her death.  But Tony understands that, whatever the Royal Family may have felt about her, Diana was beloved by the people, and the Queen's insistence on keeping a stiff upper lip may bring the royalty crashing to the ground.

I wish I could have a more articulate reason for my disinterest with "The Queen" than it couldn't get me to care about the characters or their situation, but I'm afraid that's all it is.  Despite the star power and the intrinsic interest in the subject matter, "The Queen" feels like one giant inside story.  Sure, the problems faced by Tony and Elizabeth are real for them, but neither is fleshed out enough to identify with.  Their problems never became mine.  Watching "The Queen," therefore, is like watching a private soap opera about people who, and it may be politically incorrect to say this, mean nothing to me.

Perhaps it's a matter of not having enough background information.  Writer Peter Morgan and director Stephen Frears have made this movie assuming that the audience has a working knowledge of the British Royal Family and how Diana, Princess of Wales fit into their world (but ultimately did not).  I'm not one of those people.  I was eight years old when Diana died, although I do distinctly remember hearing about it.

"The Queen" does raise a number of interesting themes: the push and pull of modernity versus tradition, the relevance of the monarchy in today's world, and how public perception does not often match private reality.  Unfortunately, none of these issues are really dealt with in detail.  And there's also a curious subplot involving the hunting of a deer.  It's meant to be symbolic, but of what that is, I haven't the foggiest.

The film does have an ace up its sleeve, and that's the acting.  Helen Mirren won an Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth, and while it was certainly long overdue, her performance is workmanlike and nothing more.  She does what is required of her, but the screenplay doesn't allow us to get close to her.  Perhaps this is the right move since she is, by her own admission, a reserved woman.  Michael Sheen provides the heart as the man of the people, and while he is certainly one of Britain's most underrated character actors, he's been better elsewhere.  Able support is provided by James Cromwell (sporting a flawless British accent), Sylvia Syms as the Queen Mother, and the late Helen McCrory as Tony's anti-royal wife, Cherie.  Sheen and McCrory would reprise their roles in the sort of sequel, "The Special Relationship" about their dealings with the Clintons.

One question the film raises is who is right, Elizabeth or Tony?  On the one hand, what did Buckingham Palace really owe Diana after her death?  She was no longer royalty, so shouldn't it have been a private affair as Elizabeth felt?  Or was Tony right, feeling (correctly) that the public still saw her as a public figure that they still loved.  They never saw the dark side that the royals did.  And even if she wasn't still a royal, she was at one point, so the royals should have said something.  Right?

You tell me.

 

 

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