Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Marvel, Olivia Williams
Release Date: February 21, 2012
If you like historical dramas that are not just, well, history but have an engaging story as well, HYDE PARK ON HUDSON is for you. If you like period films where the costumes are just as interesting as the dialogue, this movie–replete with polka-dotted dresses and bowler hats–will not disappoint you. And if you (like everyone else in the world) simply cannot resist a good British accent, there’s plenty of that in this movie with both the King and the Queen of England playing central roles!
It’s 1939, and the world is on the brink of World War II, the most destructive war mankind would ever witness. But at Hyde Park on Hudson–President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s quiet New York retreat–a face-off of a different kind is taking place. The King and Queen of England are coming to New York for the weekend to visit Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and his wife, marking the very first visit of a reigning British monarch to America. But the royals aren’t in New York to see the Statue of Liberty or watch a Broadway show. The purpose of their visit is far more serious–and pivotal to the very survival of Britain. The royals want US support in the impending war, and what better way to get that support than to drink cocktails with FDR at his sprawling country home?
HYDE PARK ON HUDSON deals with all-powerful historical figures but manages to present them in such a way that you cannot help but relate to them. So you have scenes in which FDR and the King of England bond over their (lack of) popularity with the masses. You get to see the Queen of England looking alarmed at the plebian hotdogs she is served during a weekend lunch. But the person you can relate to the most has to be Daisy (who narrates the entire story), FDR’s confidante, neighbor and, of course, secret mistress. She knows FDR inside-out, and makes certain that by the end of the movie, you do too!
We’ve all seen war movies where stuff is blown up and soldiers are brutally killed. This is not one of them. Instead, you are privy to the diplomacy that goes on behind the scenes, the human relations that are submerged under the bombs and the guns. FDR, at one point in the movie, reflects on this momentous weekend by musing that they could have “sold tickets for it” and “made themselves a pile of money”. Well, on February 21, 2013, you can, by buying a (movie) ticket, be a guest a HYDE PARK ON HUDSON too!