Film Review: "The Duke" (2020).

"The priceless true story". This is The Duke. This British comedy-drama film directed by Roger Michell and written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. The film is the true story of Kempton Bunton, a sixty-year old taxi driver, who stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly - he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television. What happened next became the stuff of legend. Only fifty years later did the full story emerge - Kempton had spun a web of lies. The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage - how and why he used the Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale.

In October 2019, it was announced that a film about the 1961 theft was in development, with Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren to star with Michell set to direct. By November, Fionn Whitehead, Matthew Goode, Anna Maxwell Martin and Charlotte Spencer rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and took place at West London Film Studios in London as well as throughout West Yorkshire, England.

The film stars Broadbent, Mirren, Whitehead, Goode, Martin and Spencer. Broadbent and Mirren seem to light up the screen whenever they appear, and scenes such as one that takes place at their home are especially moving. One day we'll discover Broadbent is actually a long-forgotten screen idol from Britain's golden age of cinema who became unstuck from time, and all of this will make total sense.

If anything, this is a film of firm admiration a good-hearted salute to some of the wars unsung heroes who risked it all to help preserve a unifying culture in limbo. To adequately fill a ninety-six minute movie, greater creative liberties should have been employed to offer a tighter pace, heightened adventure, and more moving poignancy. It may not dig very deep, but it's an effortlessly entertaining homage to the Golden Age of British cinemas that packs a surprising emotional wallop. An engaging throwback to films of yesteryear with entertaining performances and a story that finally offers us a new spin on a tired genre. It's certainly enjoyable seeing this great group of actors get to work with each other, given time to build moments and reactions, albeit the film's insistent score sometimes overwhelms the action. The film is watchable, but you cannot help thinking if might have been better if Michell had opted to go light or darken things down. It's no great work of art itself but the film is a fun and fitting tribute to some unsung heroes with bags of old-fashioned charm. The movie is fine, but it should have been a powerful, moving and heroic film. It could have been a classic, instead it was a romp.

Simon says The Duke receives:

Also, see my review for Nothing Like a Dame.