 December
2006
This month's reviews/features:
The Queen
Moe: Hey, Joe., you’re always the one who steers me to
good movies. Well, guess what —this time I’ve got a movie to
recommend to you.
Joe: Oh yeah? What?
Moe: The Queen. It’s just about the best movie I’ve ever
seen.
Joe: Wow! High praise. Why? What’s it about?
Moe: It’s about Princess Diana’s death in 1997 and how the
royal family dealt with it. A lot of the British public thought they
– and Queen Elizabeth in particular – reacted coldly and didn’t seem
to care about Diana at all. The royal family didn’t want to have a
state funeral for her, but there was so much criticism and
opposition that they went through a good deal of soul-searching and
had one after all.
Joe: Hmm. Sounds interesting.
Moe: It’s fascinating. But what the movie really does is
give us a deep look at Queen Elizabeth and who she really is. She’s
a lot more complex than most people think. And it touches on issues
like whether or not the British still want the royals.
Joe: Do you think it’s historically accurate?
Moe: Well, it seems to be. You’ve got to remember, though,
that we’re seeing it through the eyes of the director – he tries to
present it as a documentary, but he’s got his own viewpoint. What’s
really interesting is who comes off well and who not so well.
Joe: Who does and who doesn’t?
Moe: Prince Charles comes off pretty favorably, which is
interesting because most people seem to think he’s a jerk. Tony
Blair comes off well. The Queen herself is the real hero. The ones
who aren’t shown so favorably are the Queen Mother and especially
Prince Phillip.
Joe: Best movie you’ve ever seen, eh? Well, what else is
good about it?
Moe: The acting. Helen Mirren plays Elizabeth; it’s got to
be one of the all-time great performances, and if she doesn’t win
the Oscar, there’s no justice. Michael Sheen, who plays Tony Blair,
is really good also. So is the fellow who plays Prince Phillip.
Joe: Is there anything Christian about it?
Moe: Not explicitly, but there’s a lot of focus on doing
the right thing. There’s nothing objectionable about it in terms of
language or situations.
Joe: OK, my friend. You’ve convinced me. Can I take my
ten-year-old? And what kind of rating would you give it?
Moe: I’d give it 3 ½ stars. It’s rated PG-13; I probably
wouldn’t take anyone younger than 12, only because they might not be
interested. But go and see it. You won’t be disappointed.
Ratings: 3 ½
stars
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Index of movie
reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)
Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is
a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as
Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News
(West Side newsletter) since 2002.
If you have comments or questions
about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at
dramachap@msn.com.
Ratings are expressed in
increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb
Criteria for determining the ratings:
- Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values,
including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
- Quality of the acting
- Originality
- Unity of the entire picture
- Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight
Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com
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