A stunning and complex portrayal of Elizabeth II by the incomparable Helen Mirren

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2008)

What an incredible comedy of manners and position this is. Yet it manages a conclusion which is touching. Diana dies. The British public (and many elsewhere) go into a genuine spasm of grief. The Queen (Helen Mirren) and the royals completely misread the situation and are determined to keep things private with no undignified displays of emotion. They are such a conventional, mundane family. Plus, of course, they detested Diana. Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), newly in as Prime Minister, reads the situation correctly but has to find a way to bring the Queen to understand the seriousness of how the public is beginning to react to her remoteness. And it's all inside stuff.
The Queen is portrayed as absolutely clueless at first, a product of her upbringing, a captive of what she feels "duty" is. Emotionally, she is so closed in...so "English"...that one can realize what a repressed childhood Charles must have had with a bully for a father and a mother unable to express love easily. Philip is not just a bully, he is full of blustering royal certitude. Charles is well-intentioned, more intuitive than you'd think and weak. Blair is irritatingly ingratiating but right. Cherie Blair, his wife, is an anti-monarchist with sharp teeth, an unpleasant piece of work.
It's a lot of fun.