Double Feature

September 2007 - It's not easy being queen. But, Cate Blanchett and Helen Mirren manage quite well in their respective roles as queens named Elizabeth.

In October, Blanchett will reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth I of England in Elizabeth: The Golden Years. She'll have a lot to live up to as she scored an Oscar nomination in 1998's Elizabeth, an R-rated drama about the early part of Elizabeth's reign.

The movie begins with a pre-queen Elizabeth cavorting with Lord Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes). But, soon enough, her half-sister, Queen Mary, dies and Elizabeth ascends the throne. Ruling a country has its perks, but it also presents problems. Elizabeth is under pressure to marry and produce an heir. She must also deal with tensions between Catholics and Protestants. In one scene, the Pope (John Gielgud) gives his blessing to a plot to overthrow Elizabeth and sends a pre-Bond Daniel Craig to help get the job done.

Overall review: Liked it. Elizabeth is worth a look, but don't expect a docudrama. The film takes liberties by taking some historical events out of order and completely making up others. For example, according to the movie, Elizabeth's beloved Dudley was in on the aforementioned assassination plot. In an admittedly surface-scratching fact-finding effort, I have found no mention of such a plot and absolutely no indication that Dudley ever did anything to undermine her reign. Having said that, the movie looks great and is well-paced. It runs about 2:05 but doesn't drag.

Helen Mirren did win Oscar gold for her performance as Elizabeth II in 2006's The Queen. This PG-13 film makes good use of news footage of the events surrounding the life and death of Princess Diana.

The movie is set in the late summer of 1997. Tony Blair is just beginning his term as Prime Minister and the royal family is looking forward to spending time at Balmoral in Scotland. Then, Diana ruins it all by getting herself killed in a car crash in France.

What's a royal family to do? The Queen wants to keep things private and shelter Princes William and Harry. Her husband, Philip, seems to believe there's nothing that a little hunting won't cure. But, Blair recognizes that, in this case, a stiff upper lip just won't do. Blair's pleadings finally have an effect when he tells the queen that the silence of the royal family threatens to damage the monarchy forever.

Overall review: Loved it! Mirren plays Queen Elizabeth as a woman who cares about her family and her country, but who doesn't realize that it's not the same country that it used to be. She seems out of touch with – or somehow above – the common people and their situation. Rather like President Bush and his slow response to Katrina, you have to shake your head when, a day or two after Diana's death, the Queen is told about all the flowers outside Buckingham Palace and she says, "What flowers?" Still, you don't come away hating the queen, but you wish she were a little more likeable.