"Hyde Park on Hudson" is an account told through the eyes of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's distant cousin and eventual lover (Laura Linney) of a momentous weekend in 1939 that saw the unprecedented visit by the reigning British monarch, George VI (Samuel West), to the president's home in upstate New York. In the backdrop of this visit, "Hyde Park on Hudson" explores Britain's nearing involvement in Wold War II and the personal problems that Roosevelt (Bill Murray) must endure. Gordon Reed
Directed by: Roger MichellWith: Murray, Linney, West95 minutesRated PG-13
With a presidential cross-family affair, a royal couple and the political machinations of one of our country's most beloved leaders, "Hyde Park on Hudson" promised drama and intrigue. Although the star-studded cast put forth a strong display of acting, the film does not quite deliver. It barely piqued my interest and, much to my disappointment, its charm did not extend much farther beyond the picturesque country setting.
Simone D'Luna
Perhaps a fluffier, shorter cousin of the Oscar-winning "The King's Speech" (2010), "Hyde Park on Hudson" fails to capture any enlightening aspects of the historical characters portrayed and instead is an inessential moviegoing experience this season. Bill Murray's Franklin D. Roosevelt is far down the list of accurate portrayals of the president and it appears that the story, chopped to bare essentials, trivializes the life and trials of several complex American and British figures.
Gordon Reed
It should be a sin to call a movie with Bill Murray in it "forgettable". However, in the case of "Hyde Park on Hudson," call me a sinner. This misfire of a movie starts nowhere interesting, goes nowhere good and ends nowhere satisfying. If this movie did anything extraordinarily well, it was somehow transforming incest into a boring and horribly tedious affair.
Varun Bhuchar
Also playing: "Lincoln," "Les Miserables" and "Lincoln."
