Interesting but simply bad writing

Rating: 5/10 (14 March 2019)

OK. I get it. Over the top historical costume drama. Supposed to be funny (not one bit). Add lots of sex and 'realistic' language Add some strong performances. Stir. Great movie. Not. Not even close. If you don't have car chases and superhero and kung-fu fighting what you have left is character and plot. The three main characters in this movie simply rang false. More than false. Absurd. Neither historically true nor dramatically true. Queen Anne? Competent ruler of England for I think fourteen years. Had seventeen miscarriages. What do you think? A total wimp who lets herself be dominated by a woman? Then by another woman? Are we kidding. And Lady Churchill. Wife of a general. In 1800 or so in a society completely dominated by men. Sure. She gets to act like wonder woman on steroids. And somehow gets away with it? It seemed so wrong it was obviously some kind of joke. I guess. Or incompetence more likely. It's like this movie was anachronistic at the stupidest level possible -- like the director was simply too dense to understand that society was different in 1800, that even Hollywood 'interpersonal' melodrama has to be modified to fit the world of the times. If you make a movie that is entirely character driven, you damn well better ensure that your characters make some kind of human sense. In this movie they made almost no human sense. But it was still kind of fun and the acting, given the god awful script, was interesting to watch so it wasn't a total loss.