The Duke Review
The Duke (2020) Film Review, a movie directed by Roger Michell, written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman and starring Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Heather Craney, James Wilby, Matthew Goode, John Heffernan, Sarah Annett, Charlie Richmond, Anna Maxwell Martin, Fionn Whitehead, Richard McCabe, Andrew Havill and Sarah Beck Mather. Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren are absolutely magnificent in the stand-up-and-cheer new comedy, The Duke. What works best about the film is how easy it is to relate to the central characters in the picture which is shockingly (in a good way) based on a true story. Everything about the movie makes it an experience which is just pure enjoyment from beginning to end. From the terrific performances to the clever, zany fact-based plot, the story line will make you root for an everyday man who “borrowed” Goya’s Duke of Wellington portrait from a London museum in 1961 and, somehow, managed to get off scot free from the law.
Advertisement
The always fantastic Broadbent brings a sense of dignity as well as a grand sense of humor to his character Kempton Bunton, a down-to-earth, aging taxi driver who is married to his ever loyal wife, Dorothy (the always formidable Mirren). Kempton is a struggling play writer who has had a troubled past which includes the tragic loss of his young daughter. Despite the bumpy roads in their marriage, Kempton and Dorothy love each other. Fionn Whitehead ably plays their young son, Jackie who will become involved in the movie’s complicated, but hysterical real-life story. As the plot kicks into motion, we learn that the portrait of the Duke of Wellington is worth 140,000 pounds which prompts the always bumbling but still eager to do good Kempton to sneak the picture away from the National Gallery in London. After he manages to hide the portrait, it becomes difficult to keep the theft a secret. Ultimately when he is found out, Kempton returns the picture and turns himself in which prompts a battle in court to maintain his integrity and prove that he only wanted to do good things with the interest which would accumulate with the money from the portrait if it simply sat in a bank account. Matthew Goode is perfectly cast as the lawyer who seems to be giving up on his “opportunity” to defend Kempton until it turns out, Kempton has a pretty good case for doing what he has done. The magic of this film is that we are rooting for Kempton and even for Dorothy because both characters are so likable throughout the whole movie. They are realistic people who make us care for their predicament and the audience won’t want to see their lives become more difficult than they already are. Directed by the late Roger Michell, this picture is full of dry humor and hysterical zany barbs. Hilarious lines saturate the witty movie. My favorite line comes when a key female character says, “You’d lose your balls if they weren’t in a bag.” And, obviously, she’s not talking about the balls you use for sports either. The characters don’t pull any punches and the laughs come at a fast pace in this picture which makes the audience become completely absorbed in the idea that Kempton is just your everyday hero who wants to help the elderly and give people television without being taxed for it. There are some minor flaws such as the fact that the movie seems to have some unnecessary characters who don’t do too much to advance the plot. Also, there is some early footage that could have been left on the cutting room floor. Still, the relationship between Kempton and Dorothy is truly moving. Dorothy keeps things stable in their household as Kempton constantly screws up. As we learn the death of their daughter has inspired some of Kempton’s writing, there is some touching interaction between Broadbent and Mirren which is truly moving. When Kempton tells the court he simply had to marry Dorothy because he loved her so much when they were younger, we believe it thanks to the fine performances of these two masters of the acting game. The Duke is an absolute pleasure to watch. The courtroom scenes are the most energetic ones I’ve seen in a comedy since the American 1992 movie, My Cousin Vinny. You’ll be standing in Kempton’s corner all the way through the movie and will be pleasantly surprised by how touching this story truly was. I highly recommend The Duke for a heartwarming, yet hysterically funny, good time. Rating: 8/10 Leave your thoughts on this The Duke review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Flipboard.
