Review of Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) by Mab_987 — 15 Dec 2012

By far the most underwhelming movie I've seen this year. I feel like one major problem of this movie is that it can't decide whether it wants to be a dramatic historically accurate biopic along the lines of Lincoln or some kind of history-based comedy, and as a result it falls short in both departments.

This is mostly thanks to the fact that there are so many elements of FDR's life being crammed in that it all feels underdeveloped & underexplained to someone much as myself who doesn't know very much about him or the events surrounding him during the course of the movie, and at times it felt very disjointed & uncohesive.

I kinda understood what was going on but not enough to really become invested in the situation. Also, as I said, this movie is very underwhelming in nearly all areas, especially in the first half when there is absolutely no good humor or emotional weight, or anything patiularly interesting happening really.

Doesn't help that a lot of the "development" was provided by a very forced & unnecessary continuous voiceover, by one of the characters, that did nothing but spew exposition so the actual story didn't have to.

If there's anything positive to say here it's that it picks up a bit in the second half, even though by that point it's too little too late. There were a couple hilarious moments then, one when the king was asked before the picnic if he would have a hot dog & another when he actually does eat the hot-dog, which is full of hilariously awkward suspense & will remain one of my absolute favorite movie scenes of 2012.

Still, one brilliant scene & well-done acting all around can't save Hyde Park on Hudson from mediocrity, and it gets a 55/100 from me.