unspectacular, smart, rewarding

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2007)

The film is a wise rumination on the pitfalls of leadership -- on how the fickle mob turns, eventually, on all rulers and makes them dance a different step than the one they want to dance. Mirren is perfect as she shows us how the queen, at first, fails to understand the psychology of the masses, and then proceeds through dawning realization and reluctant compliance.
Nicely balanced, the movie is fair to all involved, with the exception of Prince Philip (who is much more jovial and joke-loving than he is portrayed here).
The Queen is full of brilliant vignettes that underline the central theme; for example, in one scene Elizabeth commiserates with a slain stag who seems to foreshadow for her the coming extinction of the monarchy.
All in all, a superior film one may profitably digest for weeks and months afterwards.