Word: queenly
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...Queen, written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears, is the fact-based chronicle of the week Diana died. At first, the royals choose to do nothing, issue no statement, betray no emotions--which, toward Diana, are pretty rancorous. Only when Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), swept into 10 Downing Street in a landslide, gently insists that a consoling word or two might be in order does the Queen realize with a shock that she is not the most beloved woman in Britain...
...acid (James Cromwell's bullying, befuddled Philip), some daubed with sympathy (Alex Jennings' bereaved Charles). And after about an hour of wickedly acute satire, the movie shifts its focus to find the pathos behind Elizabeth's stern gaze. As incarnated by Mirren, that least sentimental of great actresses, the Queen might be any aging executive, devastated by the insight that her reign has been endured but not embraced. Mirren, who won an Emmy playing Elizabeth I for HBO, may deserve an Oscar for this ripe appraisal of Elizabeth...
...Enter Blair, who had been swept into 10 Downing Street in a landslide a few months before. Incorrigibly cheerful and gently manipulative, he keeps telling the Queen that a condoling word or two might be in order. Only then does she realize with a shock that she was not the most beloved woman in Britain. Blair has to slap the royals awake to recognize the intensity of the nation's grief and Elizabeth's need to display some herself. Blair, who has a mother about the Queen's age, becomes the son Elizabeth never had: the one she listens...
...After about an hour of wickedly acute satire, the movie shifts its focus to find the pathos behind Elizabeth's hooded gaze. As incarnated by Mirren, the least sentimental of great actresses, the Queen might be any aging executive, devastated by the insight that her reign has been endured but not embraced. Or any mother who mistakenly took for granted that she would be loved as well as obeyed. Mirren, who won a Tony playing Elizabeth I for HBO, may well deserve an Oscar for this ripe appraisal of Elizabeth II. Her performance shows how an aging monarch can both...
...viewers know, Morton and Frears have created a niche industry in Tony Blair docudramas. The first, The Deal in 2003, was about the agreement between Blair (played there as well by Sheen) and Gordon Brown that birthed the New Labour Party. That was a TV film; The Queen was made for movie theaters. I hope it finds a wide and receptive audience - for beyond the tattle, it tells a parable of political wisdom: knowing when to listen to the people, and when to lead them...