Review: The Queen

UK Release: 15th September 2006

New Labour modernism is pitted against old-fashioned Royal Family protocol in this poignantly amusing mix of fact and fiction set in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s fatal car crash in 1997. How newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) finally convinced the Crown (in the shape of Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth II) to acknowledge the British public’s overwhelming collective grief and avoid a constitutional crisis makes for a fascinating and affecting memoir that’s superbly scripted by Peter Morgan.

Destined to become the apocryphal truth — despite mainly being pure fabrication — the movie benefits from director Stephen Frears’s clever manipulation of iconic newsreel footage and flawless re-creation, with powerful and surprisingly moving results.

The acting is exemplary, with Sheen’s Blair spot on, Sylvia Syms a joy as the Queen Mother and James Cromwell hilariously pompous as Prince Philip. But it’s Mirren’s faultless, lookalike Queen Elizabeth facing the demands of a changing monarchy that resonates most with pure regal brilliance.

Radio Times rating:

*****

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 102mins

Review by Alan Jones