Directed by Roger Michell
Starring Bill Murray, Laura Linney
The always delightful Bill Murray shines as US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Roger Michells Hyde Park on Hudson, which makes it all the more disappointing that the movie never really comes together.
Set in 1939, the biographical comedy-drama tells the story of the love affair between FDR and distant cousin Margaret Suckley (Laura Linney).The film also follows the events of a weekend in which the King (Samuel West) and Queen (Olivia Colman) of England visit the presidential country estate in New York.
The potential exists for great storytelling and the performances are top notch (also watch for an exceptional Olivia Williams as Eleanor), aside from an unusually bland Linney, but Hyde Park struggles all the way through to find a strong narrative and satisfying climax. There are moments where some scenes work and the actors transcend the mundane script.West and Colman are fantastic in their respective roles; one has to wonder if the tale would have been better served as a comedy focused on them and not the sordid, melodramatic story of the presidents mistress.The veteran Murray is also quite effective in his stately role, bringing just enough quirkiness and charm to engage the audience.
Despite a promising start however, the movie eventually turns into a murky collection of patchwork scenes with no way to tie them all together. The result is an emotionless exercise in average filmmaking. In the end, Hyde Park on Hudson amounts to a wasted opportunity that even Bill Murray himself cant salvage.
