Saturday, August 10, 2013

Movie Review: "Hyde Park on Hudson" (2012)

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Movie: "Hyde Park on Hudson"
Director: Roger Michell
Year: 2012
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

The (apparently) true life story of president FDR (Bill Murray) and his affair with his cousin Daisy (Laura Linney). Daisy, encouraged by her mother to go to the president, was brought in to calm and aid him during his down time. Daisy and FDR being a tryst and fall in love. Concurrently, The King and Queen of Britain are scheduled to meet with the president at his family estate to discuss the involvement of the United States in World War II.

Bill Murray? Laura Linney? What could go wrong?
Everything, apparently.

This is your average length film and yet it felt twice as long. It dragged, and dragged, and then dragged some more. It was awkward at times...the manual stimulation scene in the flower field comes to mind immediately. The emotional connection between the two actors was lacking at best, and the story, while scandalous for the time, was just not interesting, compelling or even dramatic. The most interesting parts of this film were the discussions between Bertie (King George, played by Samuel West, though we felt like he went in and out of character) and FDR. The part where they want King George to eat a hot dog was the only funny part of the misery.

This movie acts like Daisy had some strong influence and hold on the president, and if this is true in real life, it sure isn't portrayed in the film whatsoever. This movie is forgettable, so we say skip it.

My Rating: 3.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 3.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 38%
Do we recommend this movie: No.

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