Okay, so this is exactly the kind of movie I like to watch when I just need a break from the entire world. I cozy up in a chair with my glass of milk and a Nutty Bar, slap my headphones on and fire up the Netflix. Genre: period pieces. That's what I do. The cover of this one sold me instantly. I mean, look at all the information you get from just looking at it: she's pretty and obviously gets to marry that guy, who is way gorgeous in addition to having this serious and brooding quality, though void of the self-loathing that usually accompanies it. Then you've got the title, which immediately brings up grade school lessons from world history and you remember that Victoria was a young but well beloved queen and you think to yourself "how can this movie go wrong?"
Well, it does and it doesn't.
I mean, it essentially gets it all done. We see the young pre-queen Victoria and how her life was run by others. Then we have the young man who's family pushes him into winning her for political gain, then it turns out he actually does like her, but then there's this other older guy who she seems to be listening a whole lot to after she becomes queen and so where does that leave our brooding gentleman? Well, no worries because she gets over it and comes to her senses about the young man and does marry him, but then you've got the conflict of her being a queen and he just a prince and so there's a power struggle between them which is only escalated by the fact that he really does know better how to run the country but she takes that as an affront to her gender and all the preconceived ideas regarding that. But, once again, everything gets resolved after he saves her life (yeah, he totally jumps in front of a bullet for her - I love that crap). And it's all based on true events, so you're left with an even better feeling knowing that it may actually have happened that way, leaving open the very minuscule possibility that it may possibly even happen to you someday (even though you live in a democracy, are already married and statistically speaking there's a greater chance you'll be shot by your spouse rather than saved from being shot by him).
So, it's all there - every element you need in a historical romance drama. And yet, it falls flat somehow. It's very frustrating having to admit, because in a movie like this I am willing to suspend so much judgment and critique, and yet there were things I just couldn't let go. Like, for example, the struggle for Victoria's affection between the older politician Lord M and young, serious Albert. The way the writers went about this was exactly right: introduce the one you want her to be with early on (this would be Albert, of course, being introduced before she is queen), then create a huge change in her life (King dies, she succeeds to the crown), then introduce older wiser character with obvious ulterior motives to take her under his wing (Lord M), and a conflict is built in.
Then you have to make it apparent to the first suitor that there is now competition, and here's where I think they got a little muddled. They set it up like this: Victoria and Lord M have a scene together where he spouts off some idea that is obviously new to her; the next scene she's telling Albert "well, Lord M says this, and that and so on," and you see in Albert's eyes that he doesn't like this Lord M fellow. I guess that's fine, but just watching the movie I'm not completely convinced of Lord M's influence over her.
What would be more solidifying is this: Lord M spouts off new idea to Victoria, next scene Victoria spouts it off to Albert as if it were her own, Albert realizes this doesn't sound like her and suspects there is someone else behind it, which would be substantiated when he finally meets Lord M and hears him talk. Lord M's influence appears that much stronger if Victoria is stating his ideas as if they were her own. Then we know for sure what Albert only suspects, which makes us fear for him all the more because he doesn't know just how close he is to losing her. So instead of having just the one obstacle of winning her back, he has the added obstacle of having to find out that he does indeed have to win her back. The more obstacles, the more we a the audience can feel the doubt that allows us to fear for the characters we love the most. The more we fear for our beloved characters, the sweeter the victory when they succeed.
The takeaway for me here is this: place as many obstacles in front of your character's final goal so that your audience can really fear for them. We like to fear for our favorites, we really do, because once again it makes it that much sweeter when they really do succeed.
Changing the subject:
I do not want to like Ben Affleck. I just don't. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie. It's pretty much perfect; even he's perfect in it. And there's the conflict. I really just wanted Ben Affleck to disappear into the has-been, had-one-good-movie-but-that's-over-now abyss. Then he goes and does something like this. And he doesn't just star in it, he flippin' goes and directs and co-writes the thing. It actually kind of pisses me off. Nicely played, Affleck. I hate your guts.
