The Queen - 2006

It's taken long enough. I've heard all the kudos, the awards, the great acting. So on friday night I decided to finally watch The Queen, and I was pleasantly surprised. From screenwriter Peter Morgan, who has impressed with his writing for Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland and Longford, doesn't let down his great and growing reputation as a writer of superb character driven British films.

Helen Mirren is superb and looks fantastically close to the Queen, giving her a humanity and vulnerability the British public rarely if ever see for themselves. Michael Sheen captures Tony Blair's mannerisms to a tee and together Mirren and Sheen carry this film.

I was torn though by deciding how good a film I thought it was. Like all great films it made me laugh and at times almost cry, but this seemed less to do with the performances or the characters and more to do with the fact that the backdrop of Diana's death around which the story is framed is still so close and vivid a memory that the emotions were always going to be stirred.

This is no doubt a big reason for the films critical and commercial success. The film however was worth the wait if only for two great performances and a very well written script. But I still an unsure as to whether this film is a genuinely great piece of cinema or another of those films which are merely vehicles for great acting. The direction is fine, but not exceptional, so to most of the other elements. The real stars are Mirren and Sheen but ultimately this is Morgan's film, and like the successful playwright he is, the film feels a little talky, like most of his other features which have been written recently.

Mirren is superb, Sheen brilliant and Morgan has captured to period brilliantly, but as the Diana's death is still so vivid in the memory it's difficult to know if the emotional stirrings I felt were purely a result of the reality, or because of great writing and directing. Of the bigger question may be whether this even matters.