Queen Victoria, to most people (or at least, to most Americans), survives in the form of photos from her later years: the dour dowager whose name has become synonymous with a certain prudishness.
So the idea for The Young Victoria is an interesting one: a look at one of Great Britain's most famous monarchs that offers a version of her life in opposition to the prevailing historical image. Step inside, writer Julian Fallowes and director Jean-Marc Vallee are saying: We have a younger, more vibrant Victoria to show you.
As played by Emily Blunt, she's not exactly young Vicky, the gadabout. But she's a woman of wit and passion, a canny politician who craves romance, even as she works to hold on to her throne in the face of machinations by her mother.
The problem with The Young Victoria is that the politics here are stiff, bloodless, almost muffled. Victoria seemed to face none of the intrigue and jeopardy that makes the story of Elizabeth I or her forebears so compelling. While there was backbiting and a certain amount of plotting and maneuvering, most of what passes for action in "The Young Victoria" is really just talk.
There's talk about how Victoria's mother (Miranda Richardson) is trying to maneuver her out of the crown by forcing Victoria to name Mom regent: essentially, stepping aside and letting her mother be queen until Victoria comes of age. When Victoria refuses and is crowned queen after the death of her uncle, King William III (Jim Broadbent), the talk becomes about who she'll marry and who has her ear and who ... well, who cares?
The dark horse in the marital sweepstakes is Victoria's cousin, Prince Albert of Belgium (Rupert Friend), bland and blond and seemingly trapped overseas. Then Victoria realizes that, with everyone else who's pressing her, her friend and correspondent Albert is the only one who seems to listen to her - to get her. Ain't love grand?
Well, not really - at least not when it's as low-key and slow-moving as this story. It would be one thing if there were any actual tension in this film - any sense that something really is at stake.
But that's not the case. Oh, there are numerous scenes of people walking through an endless series of palace rooms as they talk. But the talk itself is always so polite and hushed - even when through gritted teeth - that any sense of its import (or that anything is really on the line) is missing.
Worse, this is one of those films in which quiet is mistaken for intensity. But here, it's just quiet and not much else.
Blunt is an attractive young actress but, in this film, she is so restrained as to be nearly invisible. She's not helped by a polite performance by Friend as Albert, who comes across as something of a drip. Paul Bettany, as her unpopular prime minister, and Broadbent, bring a bit of juice to the party but not nearly enough.
The damp of England lends this whole film a certain sogginess. Indeed, in the whole of The Young Victoria, there's barely a crackle or crunch to be had.
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