I just watched this The Lion in Winter, and was wondering if anyone had seen the older one and wanted to compare notes. (Bear in mind please that I have no background in film or theatre worth speaking of.)
Things I liked:
Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close have some great on-screen chemistry. They're funny and tragic when they love each other and funny and tragic when they hate each other. Sometimes they're just disturbing and tragic. Patrick Stewart had a lot of fun with this role and you can see and feel that, which I like.
John Light and Andrew Howard as Geoffrey and Richard grew on me. I never liked John (Rafe Spall) which was of course the point. I especially despised Richard at first and then grew to like him after a scene with Eleanor, and then adored him during his scene with Philip. And I really empathized with Geoff, despite the fact that he was the most villainous of the three brothers. To me, he clearly seemed like the best choice for King— he was wicked through and through, but he was good at it, unlike his brothers, so like Geoff himself I didn't understand why Henry wouldn't even consider him.
What I didn't like:
Alais came across as a bit of a nitwit to me, but maybe she was supposed to be. She certainly seemed like a sheep trying to ride a bicycle as she attempted to navigate the treacherous world she'd been thrust into, which was pretty much the point— but it didn't endear her to me. I think I'd like her better if I thought she was making a conscious choice to be above all that, rather than simply not having the wit to understand what was going on.
The pacing was pretty hard to take. There were points, especially early on, that felt ponderous. I got the impression that the characters were repeating by rote arguments they'd had over and over again for decades, which was meant to be true, but also it was tiring to watch.
I also wanted to get to know Philip better, as we didn't get to see very much of him. I feel like I needed more to go on to interpret his character. |
