"Elizabeth"
is a great film that is constantly trying to
break free from the heavy hand of a director who
is unsure of what to do with the material. The
film features incredible performances from a
brilliant cast, a fine script, and costumes and
sets that you leave you breathless. It also
features a director who apparently has no clue
how to handle everything that he's got his hands
on and succeeds in almost turning the film into
a disastrous mess.
Cate Blanchett received a well deserved Oscar
nod for her performance as Queen Elizabeth, the
first Protestant Queen of England (her role is a
nice counterpart to Judi Dench's Oscar winning
role as Elizabeth in "Shakespheare in Love,"
also 1998). Blanchett is able to capture all of
the necessary innocence at first, and transform
it into fear and confusion, and finally she
become strong fearless, ready to rule England in
her way and no one else's. Geoffrey Rush is
simply excellent as her advisor/assassin who
puts many of her deeds to work. Rush, brilliant
in every role he performs, never overshadows
Blanchett. He realizes this is her movie, and
while he could have easily made his character
over-the-top and outrageous he doesn't. It's an
Oscar worthy role (ironically, he was nominated
for his role in "Shakespeare in Love"). The cast
also includes the excellent Joseph Fiennes
(Ironically, nominated for an Oscar in
"Shakespeare in Love") and Sir Richard
Attenborough. The entire cast delivers.
While I am by no means an expert on the subject,
I have a casual interest in this time period in
Britain. Based on my limited knowledge, I must
say that the accuracy here is riveting and
brilliant. I never once doubted the time and
setting.
That's why it's a royal shame to put a C+ upon a
film that has so much going for it. The director
pushes the film in too many wrong directions,
putting emphasis one ideas that struck me as
being incredibly unimportant to the story and
characters. His pace starts off fine, but moves
to that of a snail, and suddenly to that of a
galloping horse before slowing down again. This
makes the entire film erratic, and I couldn't
finish the film in one sitting because the
viewing process was so erratic.
I can BARELY recommend "Elizabeth" to those who
are interested in the subject, but not to many
more.
©
Written by Jacob Hall
TC Candler's Comment
A simply
brilliant biopic that was far superior to
another 1998 Elizabethan tale, "Shakespeare in
Love".
Richard
Propes' Comment
I'm
interested in the subject, but still can't
recommend the film.
