Royal Pains.

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2007)

Princess Diana's death in 1997 would send shock-waves throughout the world and naturally no land was hit harder than England. As the public mourned, the royal family (led by Queen Elizabeth II, played to the summit by Helen Mirren) tried using quiet restraint in the hopes of letting a sad and difficult situation die away peacefully. However, the delicate situation leads to public disgust and disdain for the queen and her royal family as it appears they have no heart or emotion towards the "People's Princess" as newly elected prime minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) gets caught in the middle. Quietly mundane and dignified would-be masterpiece that serves as a quirky and interesting part of contemporary history and doubles as a window into one of the really more mysterious figures in the world today. Unfortunately, "The Queen" really tells nothing earth-shattering in the end. Mirren's performance is laid back, classy, and really under-developed....much like the real Queen Elizabeth II. One could look at her role as the stuff cinematic legends are made of or what "Saturday Night Live" parodies are made of. Subtle and deliberate simultaneously, Mirren's role is the real subject of interest in a film that has a distinct vanilla feel to it. 4 stars out of 5.