'The Favourite' Review - One for the Critics

Normally I would never encourage someone to read reviews of a film before seeing it themselves; the writer's thoughts (positive or negative) end up present in your head whilst you watch and make it very difficult for you to form your own opinion. However their are rare exceptions to this rule, most notably when a film turns out to be quite different in tone and genre to what you had expected having watched the trailers. This is one of those moments.

Now I must start by confessing that I am not the biggest fan of Period Dramas; my taste in film tends to sway more towards the 'save the world' or 'defeat the bad guy' type of story, however I remain open minded and having viewed the trailers for this film I thought that it could be an enjoyable change of pace to my usual cinema. To me it seemed to be a rather typical example of its genre; some big names performing an emotional drama interspersed with some banter and comedy to keep the tone from becoming too dark.

Since watching this film I have been introduced to the word 'tragicomedy' (for any Shakespearean readers forgive my lack of culture) which I understand describes this film rather perfectly. For me it was absolutely nothing like the trailers. Yes there were some honestly funny moments throughout, although most of these had already been showcased in the previews and so lost their impact somewhat for anyone informed. The rest of the 120 minutes were as dark as they were confusing.

In defence of this film the acting performances from its front three were exceptional. Coleman, as she does so often and consistently, puts in a terrific performance as the unstable Queen Anne, She seamlessly flicks between fragile and frail to terrifyingly angry and Queen-like mid scene, and her performances are perfectly complemented by those of the stern Sarah Churchill (Weisz) and the devious Abigail Hill (Stone) who are both constantly battling each other for the Queen's affection.

These performances are wasted somewhat by the lack of a convincing plot as well as the constant distractions from the main cast's shenanigans. For example midway through we are treated to a good 90 seconds of a naked Tory politician being pelted with pomegranates by his colleagues in slow motion. I am sure the more artistic film-goer out there will no doubt try to explain that there is some deeper meaning here or that it is a synonym for what is going on elsewhere but for me it felt ill placed and did not add value. With regard to the main plot the film is split into 8 'chapters', and honestly it felt like they could have started at chapter 3 or even 4, everything before then was confusing and again did not feel all that significant or impacting on the more climatic events of the later chapters.

Perusing the internet this morning my feelings about this film are clearly in the minority. The critics seem to be raving about how 'dazzlingly dark' the tone is and how 'pitch-perfect' the cast are. These same critics would also probably say after reading this that my taste in cinema was quite clearly boorish and uncultivated. However it is the intention of this blog to give an honest account of the film, for we believe that your average film-goer is not likely to be looking for deeply set parallels or fantastically artistic camera angles but rather for a fun time out with their friends or family.

The performances from the lead actresses in this film are well worth going to see, however whether the rest of the film can support these fantastic performances remains to be seen.