Despite its stuffy title and subject matter, Victoria & Abdul is a broad comedy about the most influential broad of the Victorian era, Queen Victoria. The opening line,“Based on real events…mostly,” reads at the beginning and that whimsy continues for most of this entertaining film.
As a viewing experience, V&A falls somewhere between director Stephen Frears’ other films: the sublime drama The Queen (2006) and the madcap comedy Florence Foster Jenkins (2016). And while Dame Judi Dench never plays Victoria for laughs, there are plenty of amusements on screen.
Dench has played Queen Victoria before; she starred in the well-received Mrs. Brown (1997). This time, she plays the bored, stifled version of the 68-year old monarch as she encounters an Indian servant named Abdul Karren, played by Ali Fazal (Fast & Furious 7).
The encounter, based on Shrabani Basu’s book, Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant, begins an unlikely friendship. A friendship that was recently revealed to the world in 2010. It would be unbelievable if it wasn’t true.
These top actors help viewers understand how this friendship could be— how royalty could yearn for an emotional connection that was unavailable to them from family and countrymen. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of formula and few surprises beyond this revelation, and the harsh shift from comedy to drama is too abrupt at the end. But winningly, the deft comic touch, incredible scenery and strong performances prevail.
This is a royally fun two hours at the movies.
Simply put: Guess who’s coming for mango chutney? V&A is fun, funny and fully entertaining.
Award potential: Not strong enough to rule on Oscar night in the film and directing categories, but it should do well at the Golden Globes in the Comedy divisions. Dench could ride into the Oscar five Best Actresses as she did for Mrs. Brown, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
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