A self-taught critic and genuine movie geek
Unlike last week, I know exactly where this movie went wrong, and at least it wasn’t until the very end, but it is kind of a letdown when things go awry so close to the finish line. But it wasn’t all bad news, which can happen all too often this time of year, so could have been a lot worse.
Being the King of England isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. No, seriously. Michael Gambon (Book of Eli) as George V sums it up nicely when he tells his younger son, the Duke of York (Colin Firth) that they’ve been reduced to actors. We’re used to that these days, but back in the 1930’s, people still remembered a time when being royal meant that you could levy taxes and declare wars — if not all by yourself, at least without too much trouble from Parliaments and Prime Ministers.