two best performers

Rating: 6/10 (15 December 2007)

I tagged two performers for further investigation with IMDb - strong acting in smaller roles by both Samantha Morton (Mary Queen of Scots) and William Houston as the Spanish Envoy or Ambassador, Don Guerau De Spes. Reading their biographical notes reveals the reasons they stood out. Morton, acting school starting at 13, Houston - Shakespearian training. They shone like gems. I didn't 'get' Clive Owen's portrayal of Sir Walter Raleigh - the words in the script seemed to be right but the passion seemed flat for a swash buckling, opportunist, thief/pirate. The script seemed to position him as more of a wise, guru-type romanticist trying to tread the fine line between lusty and 'lofty'.