Hyde Park on Hudson
By Anthony Morris
The year is 1939, and war clouds hang heavy over Europe. The leadership of Great Britain, knowing they can't stand against Nazi Germany alone, has sent the newly installed King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Coleman) on the first ever tour of the USA by a British ruler in the hopes of drumming up support.
Meanwhile, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Bill Murray) seems to be spending most of his time hanging around his summer house – Hyde Park on the Hudson – dodging his maybe-lesbian wife (Olivia Williams) while having various affairs, including one with his distant cousin Margaret Suckley (Laura Linney).
Will the meeting between the uptight royals – yes, this is the same king as the one in The King's Speech – and the far more relaxed and confident President result in a new bond between the two nations, or will everything fall into an embarrassing heap?
What initially seems like an odd choice for an historical drama – though seeing FDR being pleasured by his distant cousin in the front seat of his special hands-only car is certainly memorable – quickly settles down into an oddly misguided attempt to tap into the King's Speech market for revealing high class historical figures as having feet of clay that they then will overcome to defeat the Nazis.
What little drama there is here (will the King get Roosevelt’s support and figure out how to win over the American people? Will Margaret realise Roosevelt is too much of a man for just one woman?) is rarely engaging, and the performances are either too constrained by the script or just too low wattage to make up for it.
Murray is, unsurprisingly, the real strong point here, and he manages to make the paternal relationship that develops between Roosevelt and the King into something with real heart.
Shame the rest of this forgettable, meandering film can't equal it.
2 out of 5
Hyde Park On Hudson
Australian release: 28th March, 2013
Cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman, Samuel West, Elizabeth Marvel, Elizabeth Wilson, Eleanor Bron, Olivia Williams
Director: Roger Michell
