Review of Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) by James P — 08 Oct 2014

It can be difficult to translate the experience of watching a play to traditional film. The strength of the story is tested when it changes mediums. In the case of "Hyde Park on Hudson," it may have been a benefit that I knew it had been a play first, even though I had not seen the play.

I watched it as a play, so it wasn't as poorly received by me as it appears to have been by others. Maybe it is my generation, but seeing Bill Murray continue to take on roles like this does my heart good.

While I can't say he did an admirable job of portraying a president I've never seen in social situations, he definitely holds his own in the company of veteran Laura Linney. The history of the story of "Daisy" and her special relationship with FDR has been challenged, so knowing how valid the story is becomes important if the reason for watching is to understand history.

However, the historical components that include the King and Queen of England are known and add to perceived authenticity of the overall story. Also, given Daisy's length of service with the FDR library and museum years after FDR's death, one can make an assumption that a good portion is probably true.

However, the blunt nature in which their relationship begins makes the viewer have to adjust rather suddenly in ascertaining exactly what the point of the movie is, which I'm sure is the reason for many viewers being turned off by the film.

Once past that early scene, though, I was able to appreciate the story for what it was. Yes, it could have gone a more traditional route and helped establish more depth around just who Daisy was, but again, this was a play.

Characters just don't often get constructed that way. There is little time to do them justice and to have done that for the film may have been perceived as tarnishing the source material. While it isn't a bad film, one has to question why it was deemed worthy of translating to film.

It didn't accomplish enough or have the historical strength required to be a story worthy of the big screen.