Victoria & Abdul ** / *****
Directed by: Stephen Frears.
Written by: Lee Hall based on the book
by Shrabani Basu.
Starring: Judi Dench (Queen Victoria),
Ali Fazal (Abdul Karim), Tim Pigott-Smith (Sir Henry Ponsonby), Eddie Izzard (Bertie,
Prince of Wales), Adeel Akhtar (Mohammed), Michael Gambon (Lord Salisbury), Paul
Higgins (Dr. Reid), Olivia Williams (Lady Churchill).
Dame
Judi Dench deserves better movies than she has been given in the last few
years. True, there are not many actresses in their 80s, who can still say that
they have movies built around them at all, so I suppose we should be thankful
they decide to give her work at all. And yet, when I see her in films like
Philomena (2013), it shows that she still has it – she can still carry a movie,
and still stretch her acting wings a little bit. So when she gets plonked into
a lazy art house film aimed at the senior crowd like The Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel (or its sequel) – or sadly, Victoria & Abdul, it’s more than a little
depressing. The film returns Dench to the role that got her the first of now 7
Oscar nominations 20 years ago. That film. Mrs. Brown, was about Queen Victoria
strange relationship with her Scottish servant, John Brown (Billy Connelly).
Victoria and Abdul finds Queen Victoria older – now without even John Brown to
keep her company – who, you guessed it, develops another unorthodox
relationship that raises the ire of those in British high society, and her
family. This time though, it’s a young man from India named Abdul (Ali Fazal).
The
film proceeds pretty much exactly how you think it will from the outset. When
it begins, the Queen is old, depressed and essentially waiting for death. There
is very little that brings her joy anymore, and she can barely find a reason to
keep going. Abdul arrives for her Golden Jubilee – a clerk, there to present
her something from India, and their friendship grows from there. Through him,
she starts to see the world in a new light – and the British Empire’s role in
India in a different light as well. Of course, this doesn’t sit well with
anyone – who prefer the status quo. Everyone is basically waiting for her to
die so that her son Bertie (Eddie Izzard) can take over – because they know
he’s not going to rock the boat.
To
be fair the film – and especially Dench – the great Dame is hardly phoning it
in for the movie, which she almost certainly could do at this point. She is fun
and funny in the film, and at times surprisingly touching. She basically runs
laps around everyone else in the movie (who, sadly, do seem to be phoning it
in). As the other title character, I don’t think Ali Fazal has much of a chance
to keep up with Dench. His role is strangely written, as the film presents him
as honest and straight forward – and does so even after one embarrassing “omitted”
truth after another comes out about him. He remains a thinly drawn character
that you never really get to know. There is a little more of a conman in him
that the film would like to pretend there is. While racial and class bigotry
certainly play the biggest role in those around the Queen hating him – it’s not
the only reason.
The
film was directed by Stephen Frears – a solid director, who has made some great
films in the past (The Grifters, High Fidelity, The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things,
My Beautiful Launderette, Price Up Your Ears, Dangerous Liaisons), who has
mainly stuck to this kind of fuddy duddy prestige drama in recent years. He
knows what he’s doing in them, and he does it well. But Victoria & Abdul is
the type of film that you watch it, suspecting you’ve already seen it before.
There is nothing to distinguish it, nothing to make it stand out, and nothing
to make it memorable. It’s pleasant enough certainly, but doesn’t go anywhere.
Dame Judi Dench deserves better,
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