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Movies / Upcoming / My Kingdom
My Kingdom

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My Kingdom (2002)

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32 %
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Reviews Counted:19

Fresh:6

Rotten:13

Average Rating:4.8/10

Consensus: Overstuffed and unrealistic, My Kingdom may be worth seeing if only for Richard Harris' typically fine performance.

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: The late Richard Harris's final film, MY KINGDOM, takes place in the gritty underworld of modern-day Liverpool. Inspired by Shakespeare's KING LEAR, Harris stars as Sandeman, the head of a... The late Richard Harris's final film, MY KINGDOM, takes place in the gritty underworld of modern-day Liverpool. Inspired by Shakespeare's KING LEAR, Harris stars as Sandeman, the head of a prominent crime ring. After the brutal murder of Sandeman's long-loyal wife (Lynn Redgrave) the aging gangster decides to give up his fortune and divide his "kingdom" between his three daughters. However, Jo (Emma Catherwood), his youngest and favored daughter, is a reformed drug addict trying to lead a straight and narrow life and she promptly refuses any part of the family business. This leaves the inheritance to her two scheming sisters, Kath (Louise Lombard), a madam at a bondage club, and Tracy, (Lorraine Pilkington) the owner of a Liverpool soccer team. Together with their husbands (Paul McGann and Jimi Mistry), the sisters turn their backs on Sandeman and devise a plot to overthrow his powerful reign of Liverpool's working class drug trade. Like a fallen king, Sandeman is left with no one except his young grandson (Reece Noi), and together they wander the harsh city streets of wintry Liverpool. Richard Harris gives a stunning performance that is sure to be remembered for its enduring spirit and fine sense of tragedy. [More]

Starring: Richard Harris, Lynn Redgrave, Tom Bell, Aidan Gillen

Starring: Richard Harris, Lynn Redgrave, Tom Bell, Aidan Gillen, Louise Lombard, Paul McGann, Jimi Mistry, Lorraine Pilkington, Colin Salmon, David Yip, Emma Catherwood

Director: Don Boyd

Director: Don Boyd
Screenwriter: Don Boyd
Story: William Shakespeare
Producer: Gabriele Bacher, Neil Weisman
Composer: Simon Fisher Turner, Deirdre Gribbin
Studio: First Look

[See More Credits]

Reviews for My Kingdom

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1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Leading man Harris and director Boyd are still capable of invigorating British cinema with style and flair.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
07/06/08
Ali Catterall
Ali Catterall
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Neither an effective gangland thriller nor an achieved elegy for a lord undone.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This ponderous, heavy-handed version of King Lear almost makes me think it's best left to the Americans.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/19/02
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Boyd's screenplay (co-written with Guardian hack Nick Davies) has a florid turn of phrase that owes more to Guy Ritchie than the Bard of Avon.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/06/02
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The plot is very clever, but Boyd weighs it down with too many characters and events, all intertwined and far too complicated to keep track of.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/06/02
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Richard Harris is at his weariest, battle-scarred best...

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/06/08
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Would get no love were it not for Harris' powerful performance.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/12/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Suffice it to say that Shakespeare's sudden and violent ending doesn't translate well into a British crime drama.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Darrin Keene
Darrin Keene
Film Threat

We spend so much time trying desperately to get everything straight in our minds that the raw punch of the material passes us by.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Film Threat

No review available.

comment Comment
07/24/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Harris’s performance is one for the ages, but the others are also up to his mark.

Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment Comment
10/07/04
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

Watching Harris ham it up while physically and emotionally disintegrating over the course of the movie has a certain poignancy in light of his recent death, but Boyd's film offers little else of consequence.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/06/02
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Without Shakespeare's eloquent language, the update is dreary and sluggish.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/06/02
Susan Green
Susan Green
Boxoffice Magazine

The cast reigns supreme, especially Harris, whose regal presence as the aging emperor of gangland grounds the story even as it suffers from narrative overload.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
12/06/02
E! Online

The film lost me, and the sad twists of unrealistic mumbo jumbo crescendoing into pure mayhem ruined what could have been a thespian delight.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
12/06/02
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Whereas last year's exemplary Sexy Beast seemed to revitalize the British gangster movie, this equally brutal outing merely sustains it.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
12/05/02
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today

Gaunt, silver-haired and leonine, [Harris] brings a tragic dimension and savage full-bodied wit and cunning to the aging Sandeman.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/05/02
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A baffling subplot involving smuggling drugs inside Danish cows falls flat, and if you're going to alter the Bard's ending, you'd better have a good alternative.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
12/05/02
Dan Fienberg
Dan Fienberg
L.A. Weekly

Harris commands the screen, using his frailty to suggest the ravages of a life of corruption and ruthlessness.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
12/05/02
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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