What an awful mess

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 1999)

This was a major disappointment. I couldn't wait for this movie to be over and that's a rare, rare reaction to a movie I don't like. It's the one movie in recent history that I almost felt I should get up and leave. The only reason I didn't was the high price of admission and the fact I had made a special journey into New York (dragging a friend along with me) to see it on a big screen.
Cate Blanchett is wonderful, but she is surrounded by a movie gone astray. I don't expect an historical film to adhere slavishly to historical accuracy, but this screenplay pays only lipservice. Elizabeth's own story is filled with the most wonderful drama, intrigue and romance. This film treated it as overwrought soap opera. It never takes advantage of the real words and events of Elizabeth's life.
The film tries to do too much and never finds a cohesive story line. Your left floundering with characters dropping in and out with little explanation of their importance. Major characters such as William Cecil and Robert Dudley are badly cast and played even worse. They little resemble the fascinating and intriguing actual characters of history.
What a waste of the opportunity to bring Elizabeth's story to the big screen and get Cate Blanchett to play her too! Yes, I love the costumes and Bloody Queen Mary is played to perfection, but it's not enough. I have no concept why this is nominated in the Best Picture catagory for the Academy Awards.