Queen for a Day... or 23,227

A review of The Young Victoria.

Like a rich, high quality milk shake, The Young Victoria is the kind frothy good fun with substance that makes me grin. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys seeing a well-made film, but it will particularly delight those who are fans of historical dramas and/or intelligent romances. Written by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, The Young Victoria is a wonderful film that makes for an immensely-satisfying movie-going experience. While it will not thrill or surprise you with plot twists, it will more than entertain for each of its 100 minutes with a well constructed story that is well paced, well cast and well acted.

The title of The Young Victoria is fairly self-explanatory to its plot: it tells the story of Queen Victoria's ascent to the throne of England's monarchy from a year before her coronation through her early missteps as a young, inexperienced queen to her love affair with and eventual marriage to Prince Albert. The film focuses on the relationships that Victoria (Emily Blunt) developed with various influential figures in her life – from her mother (Miranda Richardson) to her governess (Jeanette Hain) to her uncle, King William IV (Jim Broadbent), whom she succeeded, to Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany) to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend) to finally, last, but not least, her beloved King Charles Spaniel, Dash.

Emily Blunt is terrific as Victoria. She plays the stages of her maturation in a realistic, sympathetic way, believably conveying the charming and self-possessed attractive side of Victoria, as well as the thoughtful and uncertain side and the less attractive impulsive and obstinate aspects of her character. The one area of weakness in Ms. Blunt's performance was her portrayal of the young, almost-childlike, sheltered Victoria in the pre-coronation part of the tale. It was simply harder to buy, as Ms. Blunt's appearance and demeanor is naturally a bit more mature. The rest of the cast was similarly strong. It was not at all difficult to imagine how Victoria could have fallen head over heels for Rupert Friend's (Chéri) Prince Albert. He managed to convey a great deal not only through his words, but through his soulful eyes that mesmerized from behind a mess of facial hair that made him unrecognizable to this passionate Pride & Prejudice (2005) fan as the nefarious Mr. Wickham from that production. Similarly, Paul Bettany so inhabited the role of Lord Melbourne that he was unrecognizable – in a good way. And Jim Broadbent deserves special mention for his portrayal of King William IV – he was simultaneously hilarious and frighteningly out of control at certain moments.

Those moments of King William IV's royal bellowing may provide the only true suspense to anyone who knows anything at all about British History, but you do not choose to see a movie like The Young Victoria to find out what will happen next, but rather to experience how the story will unfold, and the film tells its tale splendidly. The masterful pacing of the story is a credit both to Mr. Fellowes and Mr. Vallée. The use of the correspondence between Victoria and Albert to frame the story in narration worked very nicely and was well-balanced; it never felt overdone. In fact, no aspect of the story ever felt dwelled upon for too long. The Young Victoria was the rare movie whose end came before I was ready for it to be over. I would've gladly spent more time with Queen Victoria, especially if it meant gazing further upon Mr. Friend's Albert.

Lovely though he may be, Mr. Friend was not the only delightful sight in The Young Victoria. One expects the costumes in a period film to be elaborate, but the costumes in this movie (designed by Sandy Powell, Oscar Winner for The Aviator and Shakespeare in Love) were exquisite: intricate without being overblown and memorable without overshadowing the characters. Of particular note is the rose-adorned gown Victoria wears to the first ball after her coronation. Were I ever to have the opportunity to attend a royal ball, I believe that would be my first choice in attire.

Barring an opportunity to attend a royal ball with Mr. Friend, seeing The Young Victoria is a first rate way to spend an evening. The movie does not open for even limited release until December, but we (that would be the "royal we") highly recommend that you seek it out when it does.