A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Duke” (2022).
Roger Michell, the great director of – amongst others – “Notting Hill”, “Enduring Love” and “My Cousin Rachel” died in September of last year. “The Duke” was his last feature film (a documentary on Queen Elizabeth’s reign is in post-production). And what a lovely epitaph of a movie this is.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) is both a failed scriptwriter and a local political activist in the Newcastle area. This is much to the despair of his wife Dorothy (Helen Mirren). The couple has two grown-up sons – Jackie (Fionn Whitehead) and Kenny (Jack Bandeira) – but are also handling grief from an earlier tragedy.
Kempton is fixated on providing free TV licenses to OAPs and is appalled that the country has spent £140,000 of taxpayer’s money on buying Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington to hang in the National Gallery.
When Bunton steals the Goya, and it ends up in the wardrobe in Kempton’s room, how will he use it to deliver on his plans? And what WILL he say to the upright and law-abiding Dorothy if she finds out?!
Certification:
(Interestingly, this is a 12A in the UK and an R in the States! There is racist language, swearing and a (fully clothed above the waist) sex scene. It’s worth parents checking the BBFC guidance here for suitability).
Talent:
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Matthew Goode, Fionn Whitehead, Jack Bandeira.
Directed by: Roger Michell.
Written by: Richard Bean and Clive Coleman.
Twitter Handles: #TheDukeMovie
“The Duke” Review:
Positives:
- What a wonderful sense of ‘place’ this movie has. Set in 1961 (the year of my birth!), real footage of London is interweaved cleverly with Broadbent to create an illusion of the character in the time. And the production design is also spot on for the filmed scenes.
- Jim Broadbent is wonderful as the quirky pensioner: when is he ever not brilliant in a movie? But the real surprise for me was Helen Mirran who really ‘does a Dame Judi’ here. We don’t often see Mirran in these – ahem – more age-appropriate roles. At 76 years old, she is often ‘dolled-up’ (and very attractively too) to play someone looking much younger: for example as Queenie in “Hobbs and Shaw” and “F9“. But here she dresses down and really delivers a wonderfully heartfelt performance, her best in many years in my view.
- The script crackles along with great wit, moments of sadness and the odd twist. The movie’s only 96 minutes long but, as the illustrious Mrs Movie Man commented, not a minute of the running time is wasted.
- There’s a lovely score by George Fenton. If you’re not sashaying out of your aisle to the end title jazz music, then there’s something wrong with your feet!
- A cracking reference is made to the the appearance of the painting in the Bond film “Doctor No”. (Sean Connery would be a good “Pointless” answer for this movie, except he doesn’t seem to be credited!) “Doctor No” started shooting just after Bunton stole the painting in real life. Apparantly, production designer Ken Adam had contacted the National Gallery in London to obtain a slide of the picture, painting the copy over the course of the weekend prior to filming commencing on the Monday.
Negatives:
- One minor irritation that took me out of the film for a moment was that the film-makers seem to have Newcastle located slightly south of Watford, in terms of the ease of getting from ‘The Toon’ to the Old Bailey. A whole bunch of characters turn up as supporters in court – including Anna Maxwell Martin’s social-divide-crossing socialite and Javid Akram’s baker of Pakistani heritage. That’s a hell of a journey to make in 1961!
- Other than that niggle, I’ve got no other specific criticisms to add here. It didn’t fully FEEL like a 5* film to me, in that it didn’t completely grab me and bowl me over… but it came pretty close.
Summary Thoughts on “The Duke”
A delightfully quirky and entertaining British movie that should be a “must-see” for older audiences (who made up the majority of the audience at my showing). Very much recommended.
Trailer for “The Duke”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2bxcnt4S4 .
