01.16.10
Review: The Young Victoria
Chick 1 says:
This little British pic has been wandering around Europe and the festival circuit for over a year now. Very glad to see it as award season kicks off.
The Basics: While there are plenty of movies about the later years of Queen Victoria, this one covers - Surprise! - her younger years, especially the first three years of her reign.
What I Liked: This is historical epic the way it should be done. The cinematography was lush and lovely. The entire cast is fantastic but Emily Blunt shines, as she should, in the title role. She makes the transition from a fiesty isolated girl to a young woman on the verge of becoming one of the most important monarchs in history all while showing that monarch to be very human. And I was very surprised that Rupert Friends completely won me over as Prince Albert (in a can…sorry, couldn’t resist). The tone of the script and the direction were nicely balanced, at times somber or romantic but never heavy handed.
What I Didn’t Like: There were a couple of moments, effects, edits, that were somewhat distracting. They felt too modern or just out of place. But there were only a handful of these.
Bottom Line: Romantic, lush, epic. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a while and one of the first ones in a while to make me cry.