Movie Review The Lion in Winter

The Lion in Winter (2004) 

Directed by James Goldman 

Written by Andrei Konchalovsky 

Starring Sir Patrick Stewart, Glenn Close, Rafe Spall 

Release Date May 23rd, 2004 

Published May 23rd, 2004 

When it comes to remakes, I am on the record as disliking them on principle. Why? Because they only attempt to remake films that were already good. No one ever attempts to take a bad movie and improve on its mistakes to make it a good film. That would seem to be a more worthy cause than the “karaoke-version” of a classic film.

There is, however, the very rare exception and Showtime's remake of the Peter O'Toole-Katherine Hepburn classic The Lion In Winter is a worthy take on this Oscar winning work.

Patrick Stewart stars as King Henry the second (Patrick Stewart), father to four sons, none of whom are worthy heirs to his crown. Son Henry may have been worthy but he died in battle some years ago. The next in line would have been Richard (Andrew Howard) but he and his younger brother Geoffrey (John Light) led a rebellion against the King at the behest of their mother Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Glenn Close). When the rebellion is put down, the Queen is imprisoned while the sons were given property and notice from the King that neither would inherit the throne.

10 years after the rebellion, the King is feeling his years and is now ready to name the heir to his throne. He must do it soon because King Philip of France (John Rhys Myers) is calling upon King Henry to fulfill a contract made years ago to marry Princess Alais of France (Julia Vysotskaya) to the future King of England. Alais also happens to be the King's mistress. King Henry plans to name his youngest son John (Rafe Spall) his heir, despite the fact that the doltish John is entirely unworthy of being King.

Though the Queen is in exile, she still has some power. As the former Queen of France, married to King Louis before being stolen by Henry, her voice and appearance has power and she would like her chosen son Richard to be the next King. This battle of wills culminates over Christmas in a French castle where the King will officially name his heir and attempt to placate his other power-hungry sons and maneuver around his malicious wife whose only pleasure comes from making the King suffer.

This is a film that is all about dialogue, verbal jousting matches that manipulate deep emotion. Watching the King and Queen twist and turn their sons with promises, lies and other deceptions is a sport. Shifting alliances and other behind the scenes maneuverings, sons Richard and Geoffrey show they clearly learned a lot from their parents. At times, the verbiage is so confusing, you lose track of who is scheming with whom but it all sounds so smart and witty you can forgive the occasional confusion.

The actors have a very high standard to live up to. Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Oscar for his Henry and Katherine Hepburn won her third of four Oscars for her harridan Queen. The remake’s director, Andrei Konchalovsky, is blessed with a terrific cast but it is too much to expect any actor to live up to the O'Toole-Hepburn standard. That said, Patrick Stewart's stage training makes him an ideal choice for the role of King Henry. Stewart may not escape Peter O'Toole's shadow but he bellows and blusters his way to a terrifically entertaining performance.

Glenn Close is the film’s true star. Her Queen Eleanor must be the top contender for the Emmy's in 2005. What is most amazing is how Close so reminds us of Hepburn. She evokes the cold hard spirit that infused Hepburn's iconic performance. The remaining cast is less memorable than the two leads but none are so overmatched by their roles to be criticized.

It's interesting to note that the actors and director were working from the very same script from the original film. The script was written originally as a play in 1967 by James Goldman who also adapted this screenplay. This is a blessing in that it's a brilliant Oscar winning script but it also makes it difficult for the actors to give their own spin to the material. Regardless of the problems though it's always a delight to hear such wonderful dialogue delivered by great actors, even if you have heard it all before.