The challenge in reviewing this movie based on true events was not letting my belief in faithfulness bias my observations. Unfaithfulness is a foreign concept to me. Whether I am called old-fashioned or traditional, I believe loving a person unconditionally incorporates being faithful to them. Once I am in a committed relationship I only have eyes for them, no matter how corny that may sound. I was surprised by this movie; I had no idea one of the story lines was concerned with President Roosevelt’s love affairs. The object of his affection was his distant cousin Margaret “Daisy” Stuckley, played by Laura Linney (The Savages, The Truman Show). From the trailers I thought this film was all about the first visit of a reigning British monarch to America. Samuel West (Van Hesling, Notting Hill) and Olivia Colman (The Iron Lady, Tryannosaur) played the King and Queen of England. In the summer of 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came to visit President Franklin D. Roosevelt, played by Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Moonrise Kingdom), at his home in upper state New York. Fearing Britain would be pulled into the war waging across Europe, the King hoped to persuade the President in becoming an ally. If the story would have stayed with this part, the film would have been much better. The scenes with the President and King together were well acted and wonderful. At the start of the movie we were presented Daisy with little back story, as she became the narrator of the film. However, as the story continued she became more of a secondary character, blatantly showing the poor quality of the under developed screenplay. It was a shame because I was curious to see more of the cultural differences between the two countries. Those scenes had a gentle, sweet humor to them. Laura Linney who I have always enjoyed was sadly wasted in this film; granted she did not have much to work with in her role. This movie was like being on a bad date; I was not attracted to it, but did not want to appear rude by leaving early.

2 stars