posted by
revdorothyl at 07:20pm on 04/11/2006 under movie reviews
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I went to see the movie "The Queen" (Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II, Michael Sheen as Tony Blair) yesterday afternoon at 4:15, and was surprised to find myself standing in quite a long line to buy tickets. True, a fair number of the younger folks in line seemed to be buying tickets to the "Borat" movie, but a LOT of people were apparently doing the same thing I was -- taking their earliest opportunity to see "The Queen" (the previous matinees having been during our normal working hours).
Good thing that, for once in my life, I was actually more than ten minutes early for my film, so they were just starting the previews when I arrived at my theater and had to hunt for an available seat (yes, the auditorium was already about half full -- unprecedented, in my experience, for a non-Sci-Fi Friday matinee).
I guess I can understand why so many folks were there (especially so many more 'mature' people) -- the movie was VERY entertaining and well done, with some brilliant actors bringing their "A" game to a story that was all about personalities and perceptions, rather than sex and violence. Plus, there's the attraction of being able to say, "Oh, I remember that!" I was surprised to realize that Diana's funeral had been more than 9 years ago (time is speeding up on me), but that still makes it fairly recent history.
I think it's a compliment to the actor playing Tony Blair that he was so completely believable and interesting in that role that I was only vaguely aware that I might possibly have seen him somewhere before. My sister had to remind me, just now, that he had also played the lead werewolf Lucius in "Underworld" as well as the sadistic medieval English lord in "Timeline". Meanwhile, Helen Mirren portrayed a Queen Elizabeth II who was ultimately very sympathetic: a woman whose life has been devoted to doing her duty, regardless of personal feelings, who suddenly finds that everything she's learned about doing her job and doing it well is leading people to resent and revile her, during one horrible week at the beginning of September in 1997.
See this movie, if you get the chance; you won't regret it.
Good thing that, for once in my life, I was actually more than ten minutes early for my film, so they were just starting the previews when I arrived at my theater and had to hunt for an available seat (yes, the auditorium was already about half full -- unprecedented, in my experience, for a non-Sci-Fi Friday matinee).
I guess I can understand why so many folks were there (especially so many more 'mature' people) -- the movie was VERY entertaining and well done, with some brilliant actors bringing their "A" game to a story that was all about personalities and perceptions, rather than sex and violence. Plus, there's the attraction of being able to say, "Oh, I remember that!" I was surprised to realize that Diana's funeral had been more than 9 years ago (time is speeding up on me), but that still makes it fairly recent history.
I think it's a compliment to the actor playing Tony Blair that he was so completely believable and interesting in that role that I was only vaguely aware that I might possibly have seen him somewhere before. My sister had to remind me, just now, that he had also played the lead werewolf Lucius in "Underworld" as well as the sadistic medieval English lord in "Timeline". Meanwhile, Helen Mirren portrayed a Queen Elizabeth II who was ultimately very sympathetic: a woman whose life has been devoted to doing her duty, regardless of personal feelings, who suddenly finds that everything she's learned about doing her job and doing it well is leading people to resent and revile her, during one horrible week at the beginning of September in 1997.
See this movie, if you get the chance; you won't regret it.
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