Hyde Park On Hudson
Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Coleman, Elizabeth Marvel
Director: Roger Michell
Rating: 3/5
The biopic movie has been a favourite of Hollywood in recent years - not to mention the Oscars - and another has hit the big screen this week in the form of Hyde Park on Hudson.
The movie takes a closer look at the women in the life of President Roosevelt and all of this is going on while the threat of World War II looms.
In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Murray) and his wife Eleanor (Williams) host the King and Queen of England (West and Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York - the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America.
Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Linney), Franklin’s neighbour 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.
Hyde Park on Hudson is a movie that tries to balance two stories; Roosevelt’s relationship with Daisy as well as the friendship forged between the President and the King of England as war draws closer but the problem neither story is explored very well.
This really should have been a movie about either, or as neither story is really done justice by this balancing act - which is a real shame.
The period in which the movie is set was a tense time in both American history as well as world history. Europe was on the brink of war and needed the help of the Americans while the U.S. had no desire to be pulled into another war while the Depression still raged.
This was a time of uncertainty and difficulty on both side of the Atlantic and I personally would love to have seen this explored fully. Because you don’t see this aspect of the story explored you don’t really get to see the relationship between Bertie and Roosevelt played out to it’s full potential; this is one of the most interesting aspects of the whole film.
On the flip side to that Roosevelt had a very interesting and secret private life where he had several extramarital affairs.
Again this is touched upon but never fully explored. The relationship between Roosevelt and his wife is incredibly strained and there is a fantastic tension between Bill Murray and Olivia Williams. Despite all of these the exploration of these two people and the distant relationship between them is not taken any further.
Speaking of Murray he is simply terrific as Roosevelt and you feel that he really has got under the skin of this man. You forget that Murray has a great acting range but he really shows what he is about with this central performance.
He is a man who has accepted his physical condition and yet struggles, at times, with the weight of expectation and responsibility that is on his shoulders.
Murray is the best thing about this film it is just a shame that the rest of the movie doesn’t live up to his performance.
I have already alluded to the great relationship between Roosevelt and Bertie in this film and there is almost a father/son bond that builds between the two. Samuel West delivers a touching and humours performance as a King who is uncomfortable with his new position.
Despite the ‘love story’ aspect being a little bit of a distraction Laura Linney is fab as Daisy and sadly we don’t see enough of Olivia Williams and Olivia Coleman.
Sadly Hyde Park On Hudson is a missed opportunity and it is a movie that could have been so much more.
This could have really explored the beginning of the ‘special relationship’ that has formed between the U.S. and the UK but instead it really does get bogged by trying to tell too many stories.
Hyde Park On Hudson is out now
Tagged in Bill Murray Laura Linney