The Queen

Stephen Frears is a director whose style is never stamped on the film, trusting instead in the acting and plot to tell the story (although The Van could have used a little oomph from behind the camera); and with The Queen, Frears once again takes his familiar back seat. The story centres on Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) and her stubbornness in refusing to address the nation following the death of Diana in 1997. As the press and the public urge Elizabeth to show some sort of compassion, it is left to newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair (Sheen), to defend her actions, even though as time drags on it becomes increasingly harder to do so. There is something about Frears that brings out the best in his female stars (Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer, Annette Bening, Anjelica Huston and Judi Dench all received Oscar nominations after starring in Frears' films) and Mirren, immersing herself in the role, carries the torch here. Watching Mirren deliver one of her finest performances to date, it's easy to forget you're watching an actor reading lines from a script, as she becomes, for the duration, the Queen of England. Knowing that the Queen was at the height of her unpopularity that week, writer Peter Morgan injects humour in an attempt to get the audience behind his characters, but no one expected how dark he would go: "Diana is more annoying dead than alive", Princess Margaret proclaims, and the Duke Of Edinburgh's (the brilliant James Cromwell) un-PC comments are a running joke: "Have you seen the guest list for the funeral? Elton John is coming. It will be a chorus line of soap stars and homosexuals". If he succeeds in some places, Morgan tries too hard in others: his constant portrayal of Blair (eating fish fingers, wearing a Newcastle jersey and doing the dishes) and Elizabeth as ordinary folk really, get tiresome. The Queen is okay but it will do better on DVD than in the theatres.