Queen

Year: 2006

Grade: B-

Country: UK

Director: Frears

Review

frears has never been a real great talent in my book. films like dirty pretty things, sammy and rosie get laid, and high fidelity have their moments or are well-filmed, but never really coalesce in an interesting and entertaining way. the same is true here. he makes a film that is occasionally moving and thoughtful, but not all that watchable; at least not repeatedly so. mirren’s performance is the talk of the town and it’s good, but not knock-out good. perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the film is in portraying the impact of princess di’s death on the country and royal family. we see the conflict of the royal family – on the one hand they are traditionalists who felt marred by diana’s scandalous actions, and on the other they need to be supportive of their people and william and harry. it doesn’t get on the soapbox as much as one might think, considering the high emotions involved in this subject matter. in other words, it’s a pretty balanced look at the fallout after di’s death. reminds me of a paul greengrass directed film.

Watched in theater