A highly over-rated bashing of the Monarchy

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2007)

I am not English, I have very little knowledge of how the current Monarchy affects the English people, and I have no strong political opinions towards the Monarchy or The British Government. That being said people will say of my review that I didn't 'get' The Queen, I didn't understand what was being said and that may be so because I am taking it at face value and I am truly shocked at the overall feeling of love for this film. That being said I am not surprised at the critical acclaim put toward Helen Mirren in her portrayal because it's quite brilliant. Still I feel The Queen was nothing more than a film makers attempt at stating his political opinions on the Monarchy OR and knowing this director it was in effect an opportunity to shock and cause discussion which case in point it has done for me. Director Stephen Frears, an Englishman, is no stranger to direction. In fact he's one of the most talented and versatile directors in the world. He's done everything from Horror/Drama to Period pieces (which in some ways this could be considered.) All being said I thought the film was downright awful to the picture of the Royal Family while attempting to display the new order and world versus a very old, traditional and respected order. The film does a decent job of worshiping Princess Diana and her death and making appropriate digs at the Papparazzi, while still making The Queen out to be cold, distant, traditional, strong willed, Royal, and controlling. Some of these good, some of them bad. On top of all this the pace of the film is very slow. The film clocks in at a measly hour and a half but it often feels like 3 hours.
So what is worth seeing in The Queen?? Well two particular roles stand out for me. First of all you have the infamous Helen Mirren in her second role as Queen in a matter of months. Mirren absolutely transforms herself into Elizabeth and makes her human, and a very strong female lead. She shows emotion, sadness, anger, self reliance...we see her in a way no Queen let alone this Queen has ever been portrayed and it is worthy of an Academy nomination. The second performance is by British actor Michael Sheen, who portrays conservative, moving forward, enormously popular Prime Minister Tony Blair. This is the second time Sheen has performed this part for the same director and it's easy to see why. He nails Blair in every aspect, his tone, his noteworthy smile, his politics, his forcefulness and his gentle side all at once. Sheen is robbed from not being nominated because his performance was equally as great as Mirren's. James Cromwell, who I really do like, portrays Prince Phillip, the Queen's husband and he is portrayed as a loud mouth, hard talking, and overshadowed husband and is even suggested at one point that he has had affairs on his Queen. (This is up for debate of course.) Cromwell is a great actor under the hands of a great director and script and sadly I think his character got the bitter end of this deal. He says a lot but means little to the story. Sylvia Syms is good as The Queen Mother, sassy, outspoken, and shows a little of the traditional style that brought up Queen Elizabeth. Alex Jennings plays Prince Charles and shows my point about how this film wishes to portray the Royal Family. Charles is portrayed as a sniveling, weak, fickle Prince who wants nothing more than to side with the popular people of the time. He certainly shows no strength in the role although has some of the mannerisms down. The supporting cast are all decent enough but even the Queen's supporters truly don't add any argument to the negative portrayal of The Royal Family.
I don't mind if a film is political or tries to show a certain view point. I suppose I was just taken aback as to how truly almost satirical the film was towards The Royal Family. They even joke at one point about The Queen 'greasing Diana's brakes.' The entire family comes across as flippant about Diana's death, and downright cruel at parts. Their behavior is revolting and if this is an accurate portrayal of The Royal Family, Britain better start an uprising soon because they are nasty!! Still The Queen is a tolerable film just simply slow moving and a little shocking if you go into it expecting to see some sort of tribute to The Queen and her days handling Diana's death. Some of the visuals in the film of The English Countryside are breath taking and the shots of real footage used for Diana's Mourners are equally astounding. Overall there is nothing impressive about The Queen and it won't stay in my mind for long. Sorry folks. 6/10