Review of Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) by Hatem A — 26 Oct 2012

3.0/4.0.

"Hyde Park on Hudson" is two movies in one . The first is the story of President Roosevelt's (Bill Murray) relationship with his distant cousin Margaret Suckley (Laura Linney) that developed at his family New York estate (hence the title) in the summer of 1939. The second is regarding the visit by British royals - Queen Elizabeth and King George VI (Olivia Colman and Samuel West) - to the same estate to ask for US support at the onset of WWII.

Both stories would have made good movies on their own albeit the second is a far more superior one . Unfortunately, the two plots don't flow. There is no reasonable link other than the fact that both happened at the same time. The theatrical background of screenwriter Richard Nelson serves him well in setting up the events at the Hyde Park estate but not much in making a full length motion picture of the two plots.

The acting is uniformly superb with Murray stellar in an award worthy performance that is unlike anything you have ever seen him in perfectly portraying the poise of such a historic figure. The real scene stealers, however, are Colman and West. It is to their great credit that they manage to do so well in roles that were recently superbly portrayed by Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech" almost two years ago, winning Firth an Oscar and garnering Carter a nomination. Here there is so much more humor to the performances that both sets stand out as distinct efforts with no need for comparison. Linney is here usual good self and she manages to grab some compassion but her character and plot-line (she also narrates the movie) fades in comparison to others. Olivia Williams is underutilised as FDR's wife who acclimatizes herself with his infidelities.

Director Roger Michell ("Notting Hill", "Changing Lanes") does a good job in capturing the essence of the era and fusing emotional moments with humor in some scenes. It is without a doubt a well-executed, entertaining movie. It is just problematic when you have a movie trying to infuse two plots where one is far more superior to the other.