Review: Hyde Park on Hudson

Score:C-

Director:Roger Michell

Cast:Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Olivia Williams

Running Time:94.00

Rated:R

Filled to the brim with melodrama and tabloid antics, Hyde Park on Hudson comes off more like an episode of Dallas than anything else as it attempts to ignite interest with its failed attempt to mesh comedy and drama into one tired historical account.

Historically the film takes place in June of 1939, when the King and Queen of Britain pay a visit to President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt in hopes of earning his support with the forthcoming war.  But the film's central story involves none of this as we experience the events through the eyes of Daisy, the president's intimate confidant...and distant cousin.

For what it is worth, Hyde Park on Hudson survives thanks to presence of both Samuel West and Olivia Colman, who both bring about a soft, humorous tone to the otherwise slow and mud-ridden story.  Their dialogue is quick and witty as their chemistry beams loudly, placing a serious question mark on that of our two supposed lovers.

Murray's portrayal of FDR wasn't bad per se, but he doesn't come close to carrying the film as his character never fully develops into anything, instead opting to stay one dimensional in the safe confines of the screen.  It isn't Murray's fault for his lack of adequate material, but he can't escape the entire situation unharmed.

The film does show some life during the king and queen's stay, but the excitement is short lived.  Roger Michell takes his little indie project a bit too seriously and never fully allows it to flourish by keeping a tight rein on his key players from start to finish.  By the end, you realize that while the central story could have made for a great film, Hyde Park on Hudson is not it.

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About Stephen Davis

Stephen Davis
I owe this hobby/career to the one and only Stephanie Peterman who, while interning at Fox, told me that I had too many opinions and irrelevant information to keep it all bottled up inside. I survived my first rated R film, Alive, at the ripe age of 8, it took me months to grasp the fact that Julia Roberts actually died at the end of Steel Magnolias, and I might be the only person alive who actually enjoyed Sorority Row…for its comedic value of course. While my friends can drink you under the table, I can outwatch you when it comes iconic, yet horrid 80s films like Adventures in Babysitting and Troop Beverly Hills. I have no shame when it comes to what I like, and if you have a problem with that, then we’ll settle it on the racquetball court. I see too many movies to actually win any film trivia contest, so don’t waste your first pick on me. My friends rent movies from my bookcase shelves, and one day I do plan to start charging. I long to live in LA, where my movie obsession will actually help me fit in, but for now I am content with my home in Austin. I prefer indies to blockbusters, Longhorns to Sooners and Halloween to Friday the 13th. I miss the classics, as well as John Ritter, and I hope to one day sit down and interview the amazing Kate Winslet.

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