Victoria & Abdul ** / *****
Directed by: Stephen Frears.
Written by: Lee Hall based on the book by Shrabani Basu.
Starring: Judi Dench (Queen Victoria), Ali Fazal (Abdul Karim), Tim Pigott-Smith (Sir Henry Ponsonby), Eddie Izzard (Bertie, Prince of Wales), Adeel Akhtar (Mohammed), Michael Gambon (Lord Salisbury), Paul Higgins (Dr. Reid), Olivia Williams (Lady Churchill).
Dame Judi Dench deserves better movies than she has been given in the last few years. True, there are not many actresses in their 80s, who can still say that they have movies built around them at all, so I suppose we should be thankful they decide to give her work at all. And yet, when I see her in films like Philomena (2013), it shows that she still has it – she can still carry a movie, and still stretch her acting wings a little bit. So when she gets plonked into a lazy art house film aimed at the senior crowd like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (or its sequel) – or sadly, Victoria & Abdul, it’s more than a little depressing. The film returns Dench to the role that got her the first of now 7 Oscar nominations 20 years ago. That film. Mrs. Brown, was about Queen Victoria strange relationship with her Scottish servant, John Brown (Billy Connelly). Victoria and Abdul finds Queen Victoria older – now without even John Brown to keep her company – who, you guessed it, develops another unorthodox relationship that raises the ire of those in British high society, and her family. This time though, it’s a young man from India named Abdul (Ali Fazal). The film proceeds pretty much exactly how you think it will from the outset. When it begins, the Queen is old, depressed and essentially waiting for death. There is very little that brings her joy anymore, and she can barely find a reason to keep going. Abdul arrives for her Golden Jubilee – a clerk, there to present her something from India, and their friendship grows from there. Through him, she starts to see the world in a new light – and the British Empire’s role in India in a different light as well. Of course, this doesn’t sit well with anyone – who prefer the status quo. Everyone is basically waiting for her to die so that her son Bertie (Eddie Izzard) can take over – because they know he’s not going to rock the boat.
To be fair the film – and especially Dench – the great Dame is hardly phoning it in for the movie, which she almost certainly could do at this point. She is fun and funny in the film, and at times surprisingly touching. She basically runs laps around everyone else in the movie (who, sadly, do seem to be phoning it in). As the other title character, I don’t think Ali Fazal has much of a chance to keep up with Dench. His role is strangely written, as the film presents him as honest and straight forward – and does so even after one embarrassing “omitted” truth after another comes out about him. He remains a thinly drawn character that you never really get to know. There is a little more of a conman in him that the film would like to pretend there is. While racial and class bigotry certainly play the biggest role in those around the Queen hating him – it’s not the only reason.
The film was directed by Stephen Frears – a solid director, who has made some great films in the past (The Grifters, High Fidelity, The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things, My Beautiful Launderette, Price Up Your Ears, Dangerous Liaisons), who has mainly stuck to this kind of fuddy duddy prestige drama in recent years. He knows what he’s doing in them, and he does it well. But Victoria & Abdul is the type of film that you watch it, suspecting you’ve already seen it before. There is nothing to distinguish it, nothing to make it stand out, and nothing to make it memorable. It’s pleasant enough certainly, but doesn’t go anywhere. Dame Judi Dench deserves better,
