'The Young Victoria' Review

Emily Blunt as the new Queen of England. Watch the preview: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-young-victoria/29106/main?icid=movsmartsearch

This is a good film for fans of costume dramas. Most of us only know of Queen Victoria in her later years as a frumpy white-haired widow who reigned from 1837 to 1901. The term 'Victorian' refers to 'typical of the moral standards, attitudes, or conduct of the age of Victoria especially when considered stuffy, prudish, or hypocritical.' If anything the young Victoria (Emily Blunt of The Devil Wears Prada) is portrayed nothing like that here. We see this pretty princess rebelling against her claustrophobic upbringing and refusing to be the pawn of her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and her controlling advisor, Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong from the current Sherlock Holmes and Stardust. He plays these villainous parts well). She learns quickly who serves her best interests and her country.

>>There's also time for Victoria to find love with the right husband who shares her views. Her first cousin, Albert from Germany (Rupert Friend from Cheri), is sent to England by his uncle, the King of Belgium who wants Albert to court her as a way to unite their countries for his political advantage. Those plans change as the two young people slowly fall in love where she learns to accept Albert's advice instead of the self-centered people around her. A postscript tells us they raised nine children during their twenty married years cut short by Albert's death from Typhoid.
>>From what I've read in college history classes about the real Victoria, this film follows the facts for the most part except for a scene near the end that is part invention but good dramatically to give the story a boost. For a good read, check out Wikipedia's biography of this remarkable woman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom

>>Feast your eyes on the costumes and scenery. Emily Blunt continues to amaze me with being so different in each new role; she's becoming a chameleon of actors. Good performances by all including Jim Broadbent as a dotty King William whose death places Victoria on the throne, although the film is on the chatty side which is needed to explain the political plotting. We took Mom with us and I think the film's verbosity put her to sleep although she swears she was awake during the entire time.
>>Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, is one of the producers, and certainly knows about what really goes on in royal households. I'm sure her input added some flavor to the story.