Disappointing Hollywood Fluff

Rating: 4/10 (11 August 2000)

As the post movie text explains, Queen Elizabeth's reign is often referred to as the Golden Age for England. She helped establish the a power structure that continued for centuries after her death.
The acting may have been okay, but I couldn't get past how this movie wastes such a rich story and character. Her life was filled with grand struggles and intrigues, yet this movie spends endless scene after endless scene showing her dancing in court and fawning after Sir Robert. We are led to believe that she ascended to the throne as a simple naive girl and fortunately was transformed into a powerful queen.
Give me a break. I can't stand that kind of Hollywood crap. Her political skill and cunning were forged long before the crown was placed on her head. She didn't dance around the may pole far off in the country, oblivious to the court and politics. Her father was Henry the VIII. Portray her with the obvious metal she had from a very early age.
I had difficulty not fast forwarding through the whole movie. Fortunately, the movie gets a little better in the last 30 minutes (why I rated it a 4). Watch in on TV during the Summer sometime.