Review of Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) by Tvjerry — 07 Jan 2013

The title refers to Franklin Roosevelt's personal home, where he sought solitude and escape from his Presidential duties. It's here that the first English king ever to step foot in the US comes to visit and ask for support against Hitler.

This makes for entertaining social/political moments, thanks largely to the delightful performances by Samuel West and Olivia Colman as the monarchs. However, the story is told through the eyes of one of the President's "companions" (Laura Linney), so it takes on a decidedly emotional essence.

Bill Murray does a fine job as Roosevelt and the other performances are uniformly engaging. The setting, art direction and cinematography are attractive, but this the surprise/dissappointment is that the majority of the focus is on the woman's personal journey.

This softens the whole thing and make is more of a prestige chick flick.