Review: _Hyde Park on Hudson:_ A good slice of film, but there are problems

Tweet

I love history. My friends know this, and kindly put up with my yakking on and on about stuff that happened a long time ago. To me, it's one of the many adventures that you can go on by yourself. The other night, in a frenzy of the 'Oh god, there's nothing worth watching tonight' we trundled on over to Netflix, and since we have a connection to the location of the movie, we watched _Hyde Park on Hudson._ Set in upstate New York, Hyde Park is famous for being the location of the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the best presidents that the United States has ever been blessed with. Most famous for steering the country through World War II, the movie occurs before Europe erupted into war. Roosevelt (Bill Murray) is very well aware that war is coming, and is constantly worrying. The job is wearing on him, and to alleve some of that, his distant cousin, Daisy Suckley (Laura Linney) is sent for. She's not pretty or possessed of any great skills, but she and Roosevelt grew up together as children. Eventually, the relationship moves from friends to something more, including a secluded cottage in the woods near Roosevelt's estate. In June 1939, an opportunity arises for Roosevelt to strengthen ties with a potential alley in the future war. King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Coleman) are visiting Canada, and making a detour south to Washington DC, and as Hyde Park is right on the route, the president extends an invitation for a weekend visit. Their Majesties accept, and soon enough things are in a frenzy for the royal visit. No one really quite has the protocol down, and everyone is bustling about -- except for the president. He seems to float serenely above the fray, and once the king and queen arrive, he greets them with great friendliness... I was really looking forward to watching this. Bill Murray and Laura Linney do a fine job with their characters, but unfortunately, the rest of the cast seem to be reaching for roles. Samuel West at least tries very hard to create a believable George VI, with stammer and social awkwardness. But Olivia Colman didn't work as the Queen -- she's domineering of her husband, sneering of the Americans, and giving the impression that she would much rather be elsewhere. I suppose the writers were trying to create some dramatic tension, but the surviving letters and descriptions of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, puts this shrewish monster to rest. The Queen was quite gracious and was regarded with great affection by the world -- and still is. I did like that they portrayed Roosevelt as someone dealing with chronic illness -- polio -- and did a fine job of showing what a debilitating and miserable disease it was to live with. Yes, Daisy Suckley was a real person and friend of FDR, but what you see on the screen isn't the truth. It is very unlikely that she had a sexual relationship with the president, and I felt that it cheapened the film somewhat. I suppose that Hollywood feels that we can't show a relationship between a man and woman without having sex involved. Curiously, the entire film was shot in England, and I was very surprised that they didn't use locations in New York. Writer Richard Nelson conceived of this as a film, but the movie was delayed while the director Roger Michell worked on either projects. The story was turned into a radio play broadcast by the BBC, and the film was finally made in 2012. I give this one about three stars. It's good, but not that good, and the failures of the film override what benefits there are. I did think that the two leads, Linney and Murray, did a fine job with the story, and several scenes did work -- most especially with the after dinner conversation that the King and the President had, which did help to shape the alliance during World War II. Oh, and the 'hot dog' controversy really did happen, and the movie makes too much of it. I only recommend it if you are interested in England's royals, or FDR, but overall, I don't really view this with any favour. I doubt that I will bother to sit through this one again, and despite the great effort that was made, I can't honestly urge anyone else to watch it either.