Review of The King (2019) by Jluis_001 — 15 Nov 2019

In Mexico there's an expression: ''Llamarada de petate'', which basically means something that at first seemed big but quickly vanished.

I think of that expression a lot when I see Timothée Chalamet's work and I say this because since his performance in Call Me by Your Name the press has promoted him as a great actor and sincerely the guy hasn't done anything remarkable yet. Beyond that film he has nothing in his repertoire.

Now he appears as the lead actor in The King. A sober and lugubrious adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V. A historical period drama that despite having good actors, good performances and a very good production, also feels passionless and soulless, especially because the story focuses on the character of Chalamet and he just cannot give it the necessary life.

In addition to the fact that the guy lacks expressions, his histrionic limitations are quite evident in several scenes.

Robert Pattinson effortlessly steals the scenes in which they appear together and the same goes for Sean Harris who has more presence than him despite the fact that the script argumentatively favors Chamalet.

The King is not a bad film but it deserved a better actor as a main character. Maybe then it would have been much more solid because if there's something that really decreases it - Beyond that unfortunately the film will pass unnoticed on Netflix - it's the work of its lead actor.

It's not a disappointment, but it could have been much better.