Review of Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) by Cara J — 05 Jan 2013

Holy Crap. Bertie from The King's Speech is in this film, played by an actor who's not Colin Firth though. I am of course speaking about Hyde Park on Hudson. Bill Murray and Laura Linney play President Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley respectively. It's based off of Margaret's memoirs which were found under her bed once she passed away. Taking place in 1939. It's built around a visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Hyde Park, in New York.

It chronicles Margaret's interactions and progression to becoming FDR's eventual mistress. One of his many. We get to see FDR, humanized and full of charm from Bill Murray, who will always be considered one of the funny type actors, he has range and it's on display here. Laura Linney's a little bit more reserved, actually very reserved, it bodes well with her character, but often times she's forgettable. Whenever she's off screen, I didn't miss her.

It runs around at a modest 100 something minutes. It could've been tighter. Some exposition should've been left out. Is it me, or whenever a character is in a car, it's used as an opportunity for exposition. It gets repetitive and noticeable.

As the film progresses. 10 - 15 minutes less would've benefited the film. One major flaw in the writing is also the focus of the story. It should've carried more weight on the visiting King and Queen, the story of Margaret should've started.

Out as a subplot and should've superceded the main plot by the end. It's not awful, but we would've had a more interesting story told from the Point of view of the King and Queen.

See this film for Bill Murray, he shows his range. He is given excellent dialogue, which he recites to a tee. He has charm,.

Wit and sarcasm all in to one.

6/10.