The Queen Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

We are not amused

Mirren's performance is certainly the 'crowning' (sorry!) glory in a somewhat lacklustre film. The week that the film looks at was certainly a very interesting time in the UK's history and the film tries to explore the shifting attitude of the public and media and hits on some interesting points. The problem with the film is that many of the characters seem too thinly sketched (Prince Philip in particular seems to have wandered in from a satirical sketch show) and there is little insight into the characters. Ultimately it is Mirrens performance which raises above Frears' surprisingly pedestrian direction and gives the film its heart and soul

Dame Helen keeps her kit on

Helen Mirren is amazing as the queen, some of the other roles are caricatures, but despite this I enjoyed this film.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Rocking The Foundations of The House of Windsor

During the week following the death of the Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II and her family struggle to come to terms with their own reaction, that of the new Government and that of the British public.

Frears and Morgan offer up a speculative view of the private dynamics between Royal Family members and between Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen. Mixing documentary footage and fictionalised dialogues, director and writer build a fascinating portrayal of a monarch faced with a set of circumstances her whole life and reign has never prepared her for, and the clash between age-old establishment and newly minted modern populist government. However she may have felt about previous Prime Ministers (here we only get a sense of her feelings towards her first, Winston Churchill), we are left without any doubt of her disdain towards Blair, and the ensuing events resulting from her former daughter-in-law’s death only serve to heighten this apparent contempt. However, regardless of her innate sense of tradition and duty, she is slowly forced to question and reconsider what at first seems the Monarchy's obvious and natural response to Diana’s death. Despite the opinions of both the Queen Mother and Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth begrudgingly takes her Prime Minister’s advice and thus seemingly avoids a constitutional crisis.

Much praise has been heaped upon The Queen and especially Mirren’s portrayal of the British monarch, and for the most part, this is well deserved. Mirren is indeed superb as the embattled Queen, creating an at once believable depiction of someone whose life and purpose have been moulded and crafted as something fixed, unwavering and unquestioning. The economy with which she allows us to witness Elizabeth’s distress over her own unprecedented situation is quite wonderful – her face behind the wheel of the Land Rover prior to arrival at the river crossing is sublime. Further economies of play show us the nature of her relationship with her son (witness their scene at the young Princes’ bedroom door). Indeed, Jennings is equally superb as Charles, creating a quiet portrait of dignity and desire for distance despite the apparent grief and bewilderment. Further kudos to Sheen as Blair, although he only just manages to avoid caricature, and Sims’ delightful depiction of The Queen Mother, a lovely mix of rigid institutionalism and wry humour.

Good bits? Mirren, Jennings, Sims, Sheen, large tracts of clever, sparkling and witty script, some wonderful set pieces (the river crossing, the telephone exchanges between Queen and PM, the concluding meeting between Mr. Blair and Elizabeth), and the nod to Blair’s journey as somehow being the equal and opposite to the Queen’s (just as she accepts the need for change, so he respectfully realises the enormity of what this represents to her).

Bad bits? Horrible ‘two dimensional’ portrayals of Cherie Blair, Prince Philip and Alistair Campbell (not the fault of the actors, rather the clumsy shortcomings of an at times very clunky script), an occasional tendency for the script to adopt a mocking tone (the cheap Gordon Brown joke, pretty much every sentence uttered by Campbell and Cherie) and a general sneering quality towards the British Government generally.

In conclusion, a wickedly funny and terribly sad exploration of what could have been happening within the House of Windsor during the first week of September 1997, and certainly Mirren and Frears deserve every trophy they have garnered. Not quite so sure about the same praise showered on Morgan’s script however.

fantastic

Really good engrossing films are hard to come by.

This is one; it’s the best film I’ve seen in a very long time.

Helen Mirren gives a fantastic performance, definitely Oscar worthy.

Go see it.

I loved this film!

I came away thinking I had seen a documentary, so engossing were the performances. It gives an insight into the intricacies of the British form of government (and the power wielded by all concerned) and the Queen was played superbly, well done Helen.

Your nan would love this one too so watch it together if you can.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Well produced, well acted, entertaining. 8/10

Despite some great reviews in the press, especially of Helen Mirren’s performance as the Queen, I think my wife and I took a risk on this film, so often these dramas fail to engage but more importantly are too politically driven or have to stronger hidden agenda. Pleasingly this film did not fall into any of the aforementioned potholes, there is plenty of politics and some slower more thought provoking scenes however the story seemed very down to earth and believable whilst the drama was highly engaging. The Queen, personally endorsed by the Queen herself I believe, gives a fascinating insight into the time surrounding the death of Princess Diana and the appointment of Tony Blair, an insight in some scenes made sense of things you might have read about or seen on the news. The acting is good quality and the critics are not wrong about Helen Mirren’s performance, we both agreed it was a splendid performance and you could almost imagine the Queen saying many things as Mirren’s version did. I do not think this is an easy film to make by any stretch of the imagination and this is an admirable job. The Queen is well produced, well acted, entertaining and even quite funny in places. We believe this would appeal to a wide range of audiences and rate it a strong 4 stars. 8/10.

A real disappointment

After all the Oscars hype, we rented this film with high expectations - but, boy, were we disappointed! A cheesy TV mini-drama with some unbelievably trite dialogue and Spitting Image style characterisation. In summary, a total bore.

not just for your mum

Sounds like the sort of film your mum would like... but please don't let that discourage you. It is amazingly gripping, and really makes you feel like you are getting a sneaky glimpse inside the life on the queen and the prime minister during the week between Diana's death and her funeral. It should be noted that this is the only time period the film focuses on, not the entire life of the queen as some seem to expect.

A great movie for everyone who's English... not so interesting for those who aren't maybe! Go and see it, even if you expect to hate it... I defy you not to be entertained in the slightest. It's even pretty amusing in parts.

Was well impressed!

As a big fan of Helen Mirren anyway, I expected nothing less than an Oscar-worthy performance. What I saw was a brilliant film with some pretty good actors. Mirren was fantastic - totally deserved of that Oscar. You are drawn into thinking this is a documentary simply by watching her act as the queen, believing it could be her.

Was not bored or disappointed by this film - loved it. Would definitely recommend it - this coming from a 26 year old who has no real interest in the monarchy whatsover!

Excellent

A movie focusing on such public (and current) figures is a disaster waiting to happen. But the actors are all solid, often excellent. At one point when Alex Jennings was facing away from the camera, I briefly thought I was watching Prince Charles. He had the movements down pat. Helen Mirren deserves every accolade, and Martin Sheen plays Blair just right, so that we sympathise with him even as we know how he will dig his own graves as PM.

More important than the actors, though, is Frears' gentle but sharp direction of Morgan's excellent script. It will be interesting to see how this movie is received in future years when Diana's death and the Iraq war do not loom so large, but now it stands as a powerful examination of the ways leading isolates those who lead us from ourselves.