London Film Fest 2012 Day 7 - HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

HYDE PARK ON HUDSON is a great disappointment. Despite the great cast and historically fascinating personalities, the resulting movie is flabby, unfocused, and frustrating.

The set-up is that Britain is on the verge of war with Hitler, and desperately needs a reluctant USA to commit to support her. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (of THE KING'S SPEECH FAME) are thus dispatched to the USA to woo the crowds and confer with President Roosevelt at his mother's upstate New York country house, Hyde Park on Hudson.  The President is evidently charmed by the King, and the King is happy to receive encouragement from a father figure when his own father was so cold - the basis for the oft-ridiculed "special relationship".  This important historical event is fascinating and could have been the source of a profound character study of two men, akin to FROST/NIXON. Bill Murray is mischievous and gregarious as FDR, a pleasant change from his more melancholy Wes Anderson roles, and Samuel West is a nonpareil actor who creates a warmer, less angry version of the King from Colin Firth's portrayal.

The problem is that this potentially captivating story is wrapped up in the altogether banal story of one of FDR's many mistresses - a distant cousin called Daisy who doted upon FDR and is shocked to discover that she is far from his only lover.  I'm not sure how old the real Daisy was at the time of this meeting, but Laura Linney (much as I admire her) is simply too old to play the simpering ingenue, and is also saddled with a very ill-written unsympathetic role. The movie lost pace and focus every time her dull voiceover hoved into earshot, and I was just screaming to get back the Murray-West show.  

What else is there to like and dislike? Olivia Williams is absolutely superb as Eleanor Roosevelt - I haven't seen such a mocking curtsey since Helen McCrory played Cherie Blair in THE QUEEN.  I also admire Olivia Colman tremendously but I felt she was miscast as Queen Elizabeth - somehow she just didn't have an air of majesty and the requisite superciliousness.  One can't help but feel that Helena Bonham Carter's well-meaning but hierarchy conscious Queen was closer to the truth of the matter.

Bill Murray and Samuel West at the UK première of
HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

HYDE PARK ON HUDSON played Toronto and London 2012 and will be released in the USA on Dec 7; in France on Dec 12; in Australia and New Zealand on Dec 26; in Argentina on Jan 5; in Portugal on Jan 10; in Germany and the Netherlands on Jan 24; in Sweden and the UK on Feb 1; and in Denmark on Feb 28. The running time is 95 minutes.

Overlooked DVD of the month - THE HEART OF ME

THE HEART OF ME is a beautifully acted, intricately plotted, emotionally devestating costume drama based on the novel by Rosamond Lehmann. It starts off looking like a conventional period drama. In post-World War One Britain, an upper class man called Rickie (Paul Bettany) is cheating on his snobbish, cold wife Madeleine (Olivia Williams) with her bohemian sister Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter). When Dinah becomes pregnant he decides to leave his wife, who is devestated, but apparently more so because of the social shame than because of the emotional hurt. Events take a turn and reveal significant character flaws and development. Rickie can be callow - amazed and appalled by the magnitude of his decisions. Madeleine developes a sort of predatory survival instinct that seems monstrous but also plausible. Dinah has a quite remarkable capacity to love but also to act like a spoiled, hurt child.

If the movie were just about an affair it would be a rather narrow and unoriginal film, no matter how well-designed the sets or how convincing the performances. (And they *are* convincing. Olivia Williams won the BAFTA for Best Actress that year, edging out Helena Bonham Carter, Samantha Morton for IN AMERICA and Tilda Swinton for YOUNG ADAM.)

The real strength of the film is to show the consequences of the affair through the following decade, mixed up in the chaos of World War Two. Is it possible to be reconciled after such a betrayal? What does one learn from such events? There are no trite answers or melodramatic flourishes. Just a realistic, tremendously affecting exploration of horrific events.

THE HEART OF ME played London and Toronto 2002 and was released in the UK in 2003. Olivia Williams won the Bafta for Best Actress. THE HEART OF ME is available on DVD.