"Victoria and Abdul" is a British/American movie from this year (2017) that runs for 110 minutes and is the newest work by Oscar nominees Stephen Frears and Lee Hall, who adapted the novel this is based on. It is about the unlikely relationship (not sexual) between a man and a much older woman from very different social backgrounds. Sounds a bit like "Harold and Maude", but it is actually closer to "Driving Miss Daisy" I would say. The title of my review basically refers to the fact that the film starts and ends with the Indian man, but it is at least as much about Oscar winner Judi Dench's Queen Victoria, so both are lead without a doubt. Ali Fazal is probably only known to Bollywood fans at this point, but this film could change that. He holds his own well next to Dench most of the time, but you also need to say that his character is really not that challenging and in terms of performances it is all about Dench's. There's no way she will cruise through awards season like another Queen from a Frears film, but an Oscar nomination seems possible. The win is not an option though I think. Still Dench is without a doubt one of the biggest highlights here and she is hitting all the right notes from start to finish. I read a while ago she may be going blind, but it seems it is not true (luckily!) because otherwise she could not give performances like the one in here. Another thing that puts her character right in the middle of the film is that we only find out about crucial factors from Abdul's life like his marriage the very same time Victoria does.
There is also a lot of comedy to this film and even if it is basically always the same like the people around the two not understanding how they can be this close, it never gets repetitive. But these "comedy people" also get crucial dramatic significance like Abdul's friend/colleague (and what happens to him at the end) or the people next to the Queen with their reference to treason actually that also results in Dench's maybe most spectacular acting moment when she talks about her potential incapacitation. Dench shines on many more occasions though and it's fitting her character comes first in the title. She is an actress that has really grown on me over the years and she was also tremendous in Steve Coogan's "Philomena" recently. But back to this one here: It is a film that delivers on many fronts, not just the acting, namely the historic component, i.e. references to actual events, the period piece factor, the comedy, the tragedy, the drama etc. Weak moments were very rare like the infertility/gonorrhea part or also the question why the other servant was not allowed back to India earlier with his health declining. But still the positive was way more frequent here and this film has at least as many great as weaker moments. So, as a whole, it ends up in the middle on a steadily strong level. A must-see for Dench fans, a good watch for everybody else too. Go check it out.
There is also a lot of comedy to this film and even if it is basically always the same like the people around the two not understanding how they can be this close, it never gets repetitive. But these "comedy people" also get crucial dramatic significance like Abdul's friend/colleague (and what happens to him at the end) or the people next to the Queen with their reference to treason actually that also results in Dench's maybe most spectacular acting moment when she talks about her potential incapacitation. Dench shines on many more occasions though and it's fitting her character comes first in the title. She is an actress that has really grown on me over the years and she was also tremendous in Steve Coogan's "Philomena" recently. But back to this one here: It is a film that delivers on many fronts, not just the acting, namely the historic component, i.e. references to actual events, the period piece factor, the comedy, the tragedy, the drama etc. Weak moments were very rare like the infertility/gonorrhea part or also the question why the other servant was not allowed back to India earlier with his health declining. But still the positive was way more frequent here and this film has at least as many great as weaker moments. So, as a whole, it ends up in the middle on a steadily strong level. A must-see for Dench fans, a good watch for everybody else too. Go check it out.