Solid movie

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2014)

I feel that kudos should go to the producers and directors for even attempting to depict both such a high profile event and the royal family. It risked being too crass, too superficial, too weighty, inauthentic, or even (gasp) a parody. But it was pretty good overall. Including real-life footage from the era was another huge risk that paid off. I didn't see the end of the movie on TV because I guess I wasn't that personally interested in the story (and I know how it ends) but overall, the acting was great, particularly Helen Mirren as the Queen and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair -- the latter role, in particular could have veered into parody if he hadn't got the slightly effeminate voice right, but it didn't. It was one of the biggest challenges facing the royals in ages and it was intriguing seeing how they handled it from the inside, in the modern world, as opposed to how we normally see period pieces involving Henry VIII, George III et cetera.