**
DVD Release
As Britain prepares for the Second World War to end just after the stroke of midnight, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret persuade the King and Queen to let them join in the celebrations.
I suppose the premise is quite an interesting one: two Princesses escaping their sheltered lives for one evening to experience the life of their citizens as the War comes to an end. A nice idea, but poorly executed. Whilst the cast (Sarah Gadon and Bel Powley) as Elizabeth and Margaret respectfully, do their best with the plummy accents and clichéd 'oh, how awful' turns of phrase, the film lacks momentum and any clear structure, merely moving from set piece to set piece without any discernible wit or intrigue. What could have been an interesting comment on society at the time descends into shallow caricature scenarios, that even Emily Watson and Rupert Everett, as the King and Queen, can't rescue.
This is a deeply flawed film. Aside from the televisuality of the piece, the tone is also completely all over the place. What starts off as a playful gad about town without mum and dad soon takes an uncomfortably dark turn that the film then struggles to manage for the remaining run time. The two guards, sent to watch the two Princesses, soon find themselves distracted by women, resulting in a rather awkward scene wherein one of the men is on the telephone to the King whilst two women, scantily dressed, tease him sexually. It feels very at odds with the light hearted and frivolous opening. Similarly, some of the film takes place in a brothel in SoHo, where Margaret is slipped a date rape drug and then treated roughly by the man who bought her there. It's hard to tell whether the film wants us to laugh with it or be shocked, and in the end it just feels uncomfortable. The Princesses are depicted as wholly one dimensional: Margaret is the frivolous one; Elizabeth the sensible one, and even love-interest Jack (Jack Reynor) is a muddle of a character, shunning authority but then succumbing to a rather boring change of heart. It's all a bit empty.
It's not even the sort of film you could stick on during a lazy Sunday afternoon with your grandma due to the uneven and ill-judged tone, and therefore ends up without a specific captive audience. Whilst there are some plus points (pretty dresses, a couple of sweet moments, Sarah Gadon's perseverance with a poor script), it's essentially an empty vessel - well dressed, but meaningless when it comes down it.
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