HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Roger Michell
Cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Williams, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Marvel, Eleanor Bron
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://focusfeatures.com/hyde_park_on_hudson/

Opening Day: 21 February 2013

Synopsis:  Academy Award nominees Bill Murray and Laura Linney star in a historical tale that uniquely explores the all-too-human side of one of history’s iconic leaders. Blending literate wit and drama, Hyde Park on Hudson is directed by Roger Michell from a screenplay by Richard Nelson. In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (played by Mr. Murray) readies to host the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York – marking the first-ever visit of a reigning British monarch to America. As Britain faces imminent war with Germany, the royals are desperately looking to FDR for U.S. support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams), mother Sara (Elizabeth Wilson), and secretary Missy (Elizabeth Marvel) will all play a part in making the royal weekend an unforgettable one. Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Ms. Linney), Franklin’s neighbor and intimate, the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great nations, but, for Daisy – and through her, for us all – a deeper understanding of the mysteries of love and friendship.

Movie Review:

Hyde Park on Hudson is like a throwback Hollywood version of all those sex scandals that dominated the local 2012 calendar. Told from the point-of-view of Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, a previously unknown paramour of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt, the film unfolds slowly but surely. The audience is treated to many pretty scenes in which the couple’s relationship blooms over idyllic drives in the countryside, stamp collections and quaint vintage classics from the era.

Their relationship develops alongside a diplomatic visit to the United States by King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth. With the arrival of the British monarchy, the humor picks up quickly around cultural clashes residing in tense pre-Allies British-American relations. Olivia Colman and Samuel West is passably amusing in their roles as an overanxious queen, and an insecure stuttering king respectively—the king with the speech disorder whom Colin Firth played in the King’s Speech (2010).

As the gimmicky side comedy subsides, one realises that the film does not quite shed light on the nitty-gritty of Daisy’s and Roosevelt’s relationship, but rather focuses on larger portraits of the president as a person. Roosevelt, who suffered from polio in the middle of his life is played by Bill Murray as one whose tribulations with his handicap develop into keen empathy for others. The president’s gift for uplifting others plays out when he extends a sort of benevolent kinship to King George VI, culminating in an exquisite smoking scene involving the two in the president’s study that is perfectly framed and beautifully shot.

The manner by which the film unfolds through Daisy’s voice-over diary excerpts is storytelling in its most old school fashion, and yet conveys salient messages that are ultimately quite modern in their outlook. Indeed, the conceit that “everyone pretends not to notice anything” out of sheer sensitivity for the president’s handicap also extends to his seemingly questionable sexual life. Though the film at times awkwardly and dangerously borders on coolly celebrating a polygamous figure of authority, its charm lies precisely in the way it withholds judgement. Ultimately, it seems to say, Roosevelt was a man who made choices—decidedly questionable ones—and yet whose gifts of eccentricity and penchant for veiled acerbic wit poignantly touched those around him.

To be honest, I expected the film to be quite the snoozefest, and it does take some patience getting through an awkward beginning, but it’s not as boring as the poster or trailer will have you expect. In the hands of director Roger Michell, who is known for light-hearted romantic fare like Notting Hill (1999) and Morning Glory (2010), Hyde Park on Hudson is strangely optimistic and full of whimsy for a film that deals with a relatively controversial issue as an (possibly historically inaccurate) incestual scandal involving the president. Yet, the film does not take itself too seriously for sure, and the audience is expected to do the same.

Movie Rating:

(Hyde Park on Hudson is not a humourless film, but there’s a lot of awkward humour in the mix)

Review by Tay Huizhen