Royal Performance by Mirren

Rating: 8/10 (12 December 2006)

THE QUEEN (2006) *** Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, Alex Jennings, Helen McCrory, Roger Allam. Mirren gives an Oscar caliber turn as Queen Elizabeth II in an uncanny inhabitation of Her Royal Majesty in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana and the way the royals badly dealt with the ongoing circus of her subsequent funeral proceedings that lead to a cautious yet alert newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Sheen, equally good) to prod the queen to do the right thing in the eyes of her loyal subjects. With impeccable grace and ultimately humanity Mirren scores the unthinkable: making a figurehead  seemingly outdated  of significance and as a human being, a reluctant empathetic subject. (Dir: Stephen Frears)