A pretty, likeable romantic drama with initial political interest, this ends so abruptly it feels like the first part of a mini-series.
1 Comment
03/07/09
The Young Victoria (2009)
76
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:28
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: Emily Blunt shines as Victoria in this romantic but plodding royal portrait.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating]
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:06-03-2009
Synopsis: Cinema previously celebrated an aging Queen Victoria with MRS. BROWN, but this costume drama looks at the monarch's early life. Emily Blunt (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA) stars as the queen in this story... [More]
Starring: Emily Blunt, Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany
Reviews for The Young Victoria
Top CriticCaught between real quality and heritage for export, the film falls between two disparate stools.
03/07/09
Young Victoria creates a world of rich detail inhabited by a woman clashing against social constraints and expectations. It's pure escapism and unashamedly romantic.
03/07/09
It swirls with passion and intrigue, with Blunt’s sovereign feisty in state matters and charmingly flirtatious with Prince Albert.
03/07/09
Like Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth, it's a solid, workmanlike effort that shifts the emphasis away from the haughty stereotype and casts Victoria in a new light.
03/07/09
The Young Victoria feels like a breath of fresh air. It is a charming costume drama that peeks behind the pomp and pageantry to capture the human side of Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign.
03/07/09
Rose-tinted it may be, but this portrait of Britain’s longest-serving monarch never drags. Blunt and Friend secure your sympathy as the mutually adoring V&A, while Vallée sleekly braids the personal with the parliamentary.
03/06/09
An elegant, entertaining, informative picture with a gallery of vivid supporting turns, this provisionally crowns the winning Blunt as a Brit-pic star - but it skimps a bit on the bodice-ripping, blood and thunder.
03/06/09
Top CriticDignified and charismatic, Blunt gives great lip-wobble, and Friend pulls off the role of sidekick, but historical twiddling can’t render Victoria’s love life interesting.
03/06/09
Top CriticIt’s decorative, but suffers from a stultifying lack of drama.
03/06/09
Top CriticI spent an hour and three-quarters waiting for this movie to start.
03/06/09
Top CriticFriend, as Albert, is this film’s secret weapon – ardent, subtly proud, a little shy, and a man with an intellectual philosophy he intends to preserve. The film glows as it gets to know him, and your resistance, like Victoria’s, melts away.
03/06/09
Top CriticYoung Victoria is like a breath of fresh air for the genre.
03/06/09
A pleasant but plodding biopic of our longest-serving sovereign, mainly to be recommended for those with a limitless appetite for stately homes, lavish costumes and Mills & Boon romance.
03/06/09
This charming costume drama might lack the bodice-ripping rowdiness of other recent historical romances, but it is classy and clever.
03/06/09
Yet another queasy entry into the ever-growing Queensploitation genre.
03/06/09
Emily Blunt’s Vic is as feisty as Alistair Darling and the story doesn’t give her enough to get excited about.
03/06/09
The history is by Mills & Boon, the visuals are wall-to-wall frou-frou. Add the banality-packed dialogue (“Even a palace can be a prison”) and some substandard mise-en-scène, and we feel like crying, “Call back Merchant Ivory!”
03/06/09
All the period trappings –decor, duds, dances – are immaculate, though presented in the manner of a set-text reconstruction rather than a living, breathing drama.
03/06/09
The Young Victoria is thus about as sexy as a cold fish and as imaginative as a kipper.
03/06/09
Latest News for The Young Victoria
October 13, 2009:
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