Helen Mirren is magnificent and heartbreaking as Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen". Playing the monarch during the week following Princess Diana's death in 1997, Elizabeth is straight-forward, unsentimental, old-fashioned and unflappable... which are the qualities that the British public (or, indeed, the world) don't want her to display during this tragic time. Elizabeth simply wants a private, tasteful mourning between Diana's family and her own. Yet the tragedy rapidly gives way to a frenzy of hysterical grief from the masses, and Elizabeth is torn between doing what is expected of her and doing what she feels is right. Stephen Frears expertly handles an extremely sensitive subject without becoming didactic or copping out. "The Queen" isn't about heroes or villains, but simply about people who must come to grips with their own feelings. Frears also shows us that there is more to Elizabeth than her stiff upper-lip mentality and backbone of steel. He shows us a woman who expertly drives a jeep through rocky terrains, who loves walking her Welsh Corgis, and who still turns to her wizened mother, the Queen Mother, for help and calls her "Mummy". Mirren is exquisite, but Michael Sheen deserves praise for his multi-dimensional portrayal of the then newly appointed Prime Minister Tony Blair. He plays Blair with an intriguing mix of adult experience and youthful eagerness, whose emotional struggles mirror Elizabeth's, albeit in a decidedly less subtle manner.
This is one of those rare films that actually live up to the hype. Long live "The Queen".
This is one of those rare films that actually live up to the hype. Long live "The Queen".