Hollywood Fiction

Rating: 3/10 (10 January 2005)

Anyone who is looking for an historically accurate representation of the early years of Elizabeth 1's reign had best pass this one by. As far as this type of drama is concerned it has some superficial charm in respect to location, costumes and casting but the hideous distortions of fact are so blatant and so pervasive that the film becomes almost satirical. William Cecil cast as an ancient white-bearded dotard for example - Cecil was actually a mere 38 years old during the period portrayed. Why Hollywood feels obliged to revise history so often (shades of 'Braveheart' and 'The Patriot') is a mystery. Usually the real history is far more dramatic than anything the Hollywood hacks can dream up. Probably the only character who was reasonably treated in this particular film was Geoffrey Rush's Walsingham.