Review of The Young Victoria (2009) by Walter M — 31 Aug 2011

A year before "God Save the Queen" resonates through her coronation, Victoria(Emily Blunt) was living the insulated life of a 17-year old princess in Kensington because if something happened to her as the heir to the kingdom, things would get really interesting. As it is, she refuses to sign a regency order which would allow Sir John Conroy(Mark Strong) to rule through her mother, the Duchess of Kent(Miranda Richardson), who would rule through her. Victoria goes one step further in going against their advice by attending the birthday celebration of King William(Jim Broadbent), her uncle, who forcefully validates her claim to the throne. Another uncle, King Leopold of Belgium(Thomas Kretschmann), puts Prince Albert(Rupert Friend) into play.

"The Young Victoria" is a lavishly produced period piece with a great cast that engages well enough in the first half in depicting all of the various power plays, allowing for Victoria to emerge as a strong woman without being anachronistic. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the second half, as the movie drags in desperate search of an ending. Myself, I would have ended at either the coronation or the wedding, both of which get too little attention here. There is also little focus on a potentially fascinating mother/daughter relationship that gets upended when suddenly Victoria ascends to the throne, in favor of the movie in its own simplistic way needing to have its villains. Admittedly, I am no different but then I had the wrong Leopold.