Movie # 8 - Hyde Park on Hudson

Maybe it's just because it had been a while between movies for me due to some family issues going on, or because it was a free movie I won tickets to rather than wanting to go and see it, but I didn't really like this movie.

Set in the early 1940s, the movie centres around a period in the life of US president Franklin D Roosevelt (played by Bill Murray in restrained mode) where he was spending a lot of time at his mother's country home to give him a respite from running the country.  This time away allowed him to indulge in his favourite pursuit - womanising! So it seemed to me anyway.

The movie's chief problem is that it uses a very dull character as the framing device through which we see the president and the events of the movie.  Laura Linney plays the character Daisy, a distant cousin of FDR whose lonely existence in the country caring for a sick aunt is interrupted with the request to 'spend time' with FDR to keep his mind off the job.  It's no wonder Daisy jumps at the chance and enjoys being driven around in FDR's car, smoking and drinking, but to be honest I just couldn't see what FDR sees in Daisy as she seems to have little to offer in conversation or wit. However, FDR is painted here as a man with a large sexual appetite so I guess she offers him the one thing he needs, in a rather distasteful early scene although their relationship is only hinted at for the rest of the movie. As the film slowly unveils, Daisy is not the only one but I was left quite bewildered at how calmly all these women take their part in the harem.

The best part of the film for me was the visit to the Hyde Park home by the then King and Queen of England, Bertie and Elizabeth (known to us as the Queen Mum I believe).  They have come to ask the President for help with the war but are unsure whether the Americans are mocking them or welcoming them.  The scenes between them alone as they discuss their US reception, and the scenes of them interacting with the president, his mother, his wife and retainers are quite funny.  Had the movie been about this and flicked the Daisy storyline, I think I would've quite enjoyed the gentle humour.

Some people may find the film nice and funny (an older gentlemen sitting beside me was certainly giggling to himself quite frequently and for a long time) but I personally found the subject matter distasteful and the key characters unlikeable so it was difficult to enjoy.