The Royals

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2006)

This is a rather sad movie. There really seem to be no winners here. The depiction of Queen Elisabeth, which to me seemed to be a balanced, accurate portrayal of her, comes across as being a rather lonely woman. Helen Mirren doesn't chew the scenery here, and the majority of the actors turn in fine performances, but it does come down to Mirrin herself. At times, she truly does look like the Queen but it's her talent that makes us believe we are indeed seeing into the Queen's world, and that world is very sad. With all the riches, it seems her personal life is very barren and cold. Her dysfunctional family offer no assistance to her except perhaps, "Mummy." The stag scene was very symbolic to her. It represented her, a lone survivor caught in a world of change and danger. And like the stag, at that time, people wanted her head on a platter. Tradition must be upheld but at what cost? "The Queen" might be a figurehead but it turns out that she is a woman, capable of making mistakes in judgment.