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Thursday, December 6, 2012

MOVIE REVIEW
Hyde Park On Hudson
The Airy, Breezy Romances Of One F.D.R., Circa 1939
 
Laura Linney as Margaret "Daisy" Stuckey and Bill Murray as F.D.R. in Roger Michell's comedy "Hyde Park On Hudson". Nicola Dove./Focus Features
    
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        FOLLOW                                            TWEET
Thursday, December 6, 2012

Roger Michell directs the warm, delightful "Hyde Park On Hudson", a romantic farce about protocol and appearance that is enjoyable purely for its charms.  The film chronicles the month of June 1939 in upstate New York when King Bertie and Queen Elizabeth of England arrive at President Roosevelt's home to meet with F.D.R. to get America's protection from the imminent bombing of the UK by the Nazis.

The film is narrated by Margaret "Daisy" Stuckey (Laura Linney), a very distant cousin of F.D.R., with whom the president had an affair.  Daisy is a tender sort, and her relationship with F.D.R (Bill Murray) has a softness and delicacy to it early on.  The most beautiful parts of Mr. Michell's comedy are its initial 30 minutes until Daisy's narrative voice gets hijacked by the arrival of the King and Queen (played wonderfully by Samuel West and Olivia Colman).  "Hyde Park On Hudson" then loses its focus, and its early introduction of F.D.R., for all its signature and portent, ends up being little more than a footnote and symbolic flourish for the duration of the film.

Mr. Murray strips away most of the idiosyncrasies governing his big screen work and tidily plays a president thriving in the moment amidst World War Two, a man given to reverie and joy, and the governing aspect of his character is muted here.  Despite his struggles with polio, F.D.R. is more alive at home than on the job.

Though "Hyde Park On Hudson" sees good acting, especially from Elizabeth Marvel as Missy, a sexy presence as F.D.R.'s assistant, the film devolves into caricature and theatre when British royalty arrives.  Everything in the film, except most of its first half hour, plays upon superficiality and artifice, and Mr. Michell's attempt at regaining any semblance of interest in the Daisy-F.D.R. romance comes too late as the film becomes more about the profile of the Royals as captured by the press than about the substance of the relationships between F.D.R. and the several women in his life, including wife Eleanor Roosevelt (Olivia Williams).

Despite some very funny moments I ultimately felt let down by "Hyde Park On Hudson", a promising film that should have stuck to its guns and Daisy's narration, which becomes mostly bookended.  Ms. Linney, effective here, is out of sorts with the rest of the cast, who seem to have received the memo about nudging and winking their way through the film and its lush, idyllic settings.  Sadly, it's a muted performance that's wasted.

Also with: Elizabeth Wilson, Eleanor Bron, Martin McDougall, Nancy Baldwin, Samantha Dakin.

"Hyde Park On Hudson" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for brief sexuality.  The film's running time is one hour and 34 minutes.  

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