Helen Mirren was pretty good. But then I have always had a thing for her. No, really.
I like elegance and class in general: dining in style, the feel of a good suit, dignified bearing and conduct, choice of words (when not on weed) and all that. So that and a deep interest in history have always drawn me to the sumptuousness and lifestyles of the British monarchy. To be honest, I have never been interested in Diana or the antics of Prince Charles. My interest has always been the Queen and her interaction with parliament. So naturally I decided to watch this movie.
Its a good movie. It plays out during the first week immediately following Princess Diana's death. The guy portraying Tony Blair was very good. He resembled the real man too. I wouldn't call Helen Mirren's portrayal riveting although she was outstanding in some of the difficult scenes such as when she greets some mourners publicly (I thought that I was watching the real Queen). Some of the supporting characters (such as the Queen's private secretary) and her husband (played by the ever versatile James Cromwell) stand out. Others like the guy playing Prince Charles don't. To be fair, he didn't have much to do anyway. We hardly get a glimpe of the two Princes. I didn't feel like missing anything though as my interest in the movie was only relegated to the "relationship" between the Queen and the British Premier. The tight script admirably sticks to the Queen and "Yo, Blair".
