Oh dear.
What a let down.
The story, that of the unlikely friendship between an ageing Queen Victoria and her Indian servant, is not only a delectable one, but the additional fact that Abdul Karim’s diaries were only recently discovered is also thrilling.
Add the incomparable Judi Dench to the mix, and we should have had the blockbuster to beat all costume-historical-sweeping-blockbuster-epic-y thingies.
Except we don’t.
Judi Dench is her usual incomparable self. Not one word of criticism about her performance.
She is absolutely perfect as Queen Victoria.
Perfect.
But for the rest of the cast…yet again, at the risk of repeating myself, what a let-down.
Stellar names delivering flat performances, with Eddie Izzard a notable exception.
I haven’t read the original book, nor do I know enough about that period of British & Indian history to speak with any authority, but I’m pretty sure that an Indian servant like Mohammed would not have slightly cheeked off the British, used words like “bloody” and been so, well, so 21st century in his open disdain for the British and their way of life.
Also, and I may be over-estimating Queen Victoria, but would she really not have known the background to the Koh-i-Noor? One of her prized pieces of jewelllery?
And now let’s move onto young Ali Faizal, who plays the charming, handsome and likeable Abdul Karim.
Great eye-candy, totally, but what a sadly one-dimensional portrayal.
The actor is utterly charming, and you like Abdul unwaveringly, but other than smiling sweetly and affectionately at HM, what else does he do?
Judi Dench (left) as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal (right) as Abdul Karim
Lovely visuals, as one would expect, but that was it.
Didn’t care about any of the other characters, they were all so 2 dimensional.
Liked Ali Faizal.
Loved Judi Dench.
But left the cinema feeling slightly cheated.
This movie could’ve been fabulous.
Could’ve been epic.
Instead, it was formulaic, and even a little silly at times.
But, having said that, it is still worth seeing for the wonderful Judi Dench.
How come you already went? Thought we were having a girls’ night out to see it ?!
Shoot Beverly. guilty as charged. We never firned it up & yes, I forgot…?
🙁
Yes I agree, it was a let down and quite forgettable. Costumes superb though.
Was planning to see it 🙂
do go, Suparna. It’s good. I was just expecting something superlative
I thought it was a travesty. A wonderful story ruined by one dimensional acting on the part of Ali Fazal. One didn’t get a sense of the depth of the relationship between the two protagonists. 2/5
Agree, Karam. Potentially SUCH a great story, but wasted. Thank God for Judi Dench
I love M.
It was a complete let down. I didn’t expect too much from it, even then highly disappointed.
Will read your review after I watch the film (looking forward to both:)