Review of Victoria & Abdul (2017) by Christopher R — 21 Oct 2017

Dame Judi Dench lights the screen with her Indian costar, and it is not at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Dench has a magnetic power that keeps us glued to her every moment on screen. The movie even includes that great speech that moves me nearly to tears.

While Ali Fazal as the titular Adhul is very likeable, he is not allowed enough range of emotions, so that we can see the more complex parts of human nature, such as the greed that much be naturally dealt with when in the orbit of the most influential person in the world at the that time.

A second Indian actor, Akeel Akhtar actually gets the meatier part in that respect. Eddie Izzard is a minor bright light as the heir Bertie, Prince of Wales. The movie is ho-hum on a number of technical aspects.

Basically, it is not grand enough even though it is set in a number of palaces. The many interiors include a bizarrely large number of hallways which seem small and cozy. The outdoor scenes do not feel epic enough for the locales of the most powerful monarch in the world.

Even a snowfall, seems a little too perfectly timed and cheesy. Director Stephen Frear's movie is a valiant workmanlike effort that is a based on true event story and is told well enough, but does not leave me craving a second viewing.