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Mar 18, 2012mjcuaycong rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Excellent dramatic and comedic performance by Nigel Hawthorne. However, the movie doesn't flow well. The extremely foppish portrayal by Rupert Murdoch, as Prince of Wales, and his sidekick the Duke of York seems at odds with the way Hawthorne and Mirren portrayed their roles as the Royal Couple. I understand the tension that the film was trying to convey between the King and his covetous son. However, in both costume and acting, the characters seemed like two separate films. Additionally, although Helen Mirren gave a fine performance as the loyal Queen Charlotte, her accent wasn't consistent. Midway through the film her accent seemed to change from high English to something "foreign". Until then, I thought she was of British heritage. When the accent was noticeable, I wasn't sure if she was supposed to be French (consistent with the name) or German, e.g. when she pronounced "we" as "ve" in one bedroom scene. The movie did a good job of revealing the tortuous and bizarre notions of medicine during this time. However, it wasn't clear if the film wanted to portray Ian Holmes as a real factor in the King's recovery or not. He seemed quite stern and unfeeling toward his patient. Porphyria, the actual medical disease the King suffered from, is finally revealed in a screen commentary at the end of the film. I think this would have been a uniquely interesting topic to delve into during the film. Instead, the movie only adds it as a sidenote. Enjoyable enough but with the potential storyline, quality of British actors, location and costumes available, I think the director and producers missed the mark.