Movie Chile Review

Hyde Park on Hudson

By: Robert Ker
Published online: Friday, November 30, 2012
Appeared in: Pasateimpo

Capsule review

In June 1939, King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Consort Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) flew to Franklin Roosevelt’s estate in upstate New York to make sure they had U.S. support in the upcoming war. This bit of history could have made for a gravely serious film, but instead director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) cast Bill Murray as FDR and Olivia Williams as his wife, Eleanor. Murray is never fully believable, of course, but the meeting of the powers is staged as an easygoing weekend in the country. Much of the drama actually stems from Roosevelt’s distant cousin Margaret Suckley (Laura Linney), who has an affair with the president. Rated R. 95 minutes. Screens one night only as part of the Santa Fe Film Festival, 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6.

Full Review

Hyde Park on Hudson, historical dramedy, rated R, The Screen, 3.5 chiles

In June 1939, members of the British monarchy set foot on U.S. soil for the first time. The visit was of utmost importance to the United Kingdom: World War II was months away from officially erupting, and the royals needed to confirm that a reluctant United States would offer support. King George VI and Queen Consort Elizabeth flew to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s estate at Hyde Park in upstate New York, where they met with the president and his wife, Eleanor.

Hyde Park on Hudson, the delightful picture that opens the 2012 Santa Fe Film Festival (at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6), has its camera trained on more than just international diplomacy. Screenwriter Richard Nelson drafted the script from letters and diaries written by Roosevelt’s distant cousin Margaret Suckley (embodied here by Laura Linney), whose affair with Roosevelt took her through the visit by the Brits. Much of the film is seen through Suckley’s eyes as she takes in world affairs as fairly commonplace occurrences and experiences the romantic affair as a series of expectations raised and dashed that she eventually comes to terms with.

One might think that director Roger Michell would cast a thespian of great gravity in the role of the revered Roosevelt, as he must navigate foreign policy and tumultuous matters of the heart with equal care. Instead, Michell fitted Bill Murray for FDR’s wheelchair. The former Saturday Night Live cutup who smirked his way through films like Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day — and is now having a drily comic three-quarter-life crisis across the canvas of Wes Anderson — seems an odd casting choice when you look at the posters for Hyde Park on Hudson. When you watch the film, however, the choice makes perfect sense.

This is, above all, a comedy. Michell’s CV is wide- ranging; his most successful film was the 1999 Julia Roberts rom-com Notting Hill. Hyde Park on Hudson is a lighthearted romp through a pleasant summer weekend in the country, as easygoing as iced tea on a front porch despite taking place in a world that’s in the midst of depression and on the brink of war. Certainly, some moments are tense or sad, but this is nonetheless a movie in which the climactic scene prominently involves a hot dog.

Much credit goes to the actors, who take their roles quite seriously while allowing a degree of silliness to seep in. Murray is never remotely believable as FDR — how could he be? — but he has a natural command of the screen. It’s easy for him to play somebody that many people are drawn to, and he gives a terrific performance. So much of Murray’s late-career resurgence has involved characters that are beaten down by life that it’s revelatory to watch him effectively portray a historical figure who was seen by many as a beacon of hope. Olivia Williams (who brilliantly played across Murray in Rushmore) realizes Eleanor with a sharp tongue and a quick wit; she may be much smarter than her husband but is smart enough to cater to his ego when necessary and to demonstrate immeasurable patience at pretty much all times.

Their British counterparts fare equally well. As Queen Elizabeth, Olivia Colman serves as a fine counterpart to Williams’ Eleanor; she’s equally sharp but a bit more skittish behind closed doors, in keeping with her new position in the family and on the world stage. King George VI was recently celebrated in The King’s Speech, for which Colin Firth took home an Oscar. Samuel West’s take on the king is less regal but significantly funnier. West pulls off the neat trick of speaking with a stutter and still nailing his comic timing. The scenes in which George and Franklin, two great leaders — one who can’t talk very well and one who can’t walk at all — bond over their handicaps serve as some of the film’s strongest moments.

And then there’s Suckley, a woman who at times seems to be stronger and more confident than the prominent people around her and at other times seems meek and lost. She serves as an audience surrogate. As a plotline, Suckley’s story can’t help but be less interesting than the meeting of the superpowers, if only because it’s the sort of story we’ve seen more often. Linney excels in a role in which she’s rarely allowed to have as much fun as her co-stars, who bounce repartee off one another and blend into what comes across like a stage play at times.

Hyde Park on Hudson is a perfect film to see at a festival — one full of small chuckles that blossom into hearty laughs when shared with an enthusiastic audience. The story is often silly and frivolous in a mid-period Woody Allen way, while also offering enough nutritional content that you feel you’ve seen something of substance. I saw it at the New York Film Festival, and the audience was aglow after- ward. It promises to be the first bright light in Santa Fe’s festival as well.