Helen Mirren Proves She Deserved the Oscar for "The Queen"

All of my life, I've been fascinated by the royal family, as you can see from my reviews, I use a "tiara" scale! So when I heard about the movie, "The Queen", I was extremely anxious to get in the theater seat and see what happened in the family after Princess Diana had died.

First and foremost, Helen Mirren completely deserved the Oscar for her performance in this film. While watching this film, I often had to tell myself that Mirren was acting as the queen and that was not Queen Elizabeth herself. She perfected her role completely, from the walk to her complete countinence.

It was no secret that Queen Elizabeth was not too fond of Princess Diana from the start. Diana was different, and the queen didn't like anything different from what she had known as being a "proper" royal. What I found the most surprising was that Prince Philip is a right jerk as portrayed in this movie. From what you see on television, he's just the quiet guy in the background. Not so behind closed doors. He is very outspoken and opinionated on every subject. So when the news arrived that Diana had been in a terrible car accident, I was shocked to see that Prince Philip seemed almost "pleased" that she had been snuffed out of their lives. Even the Queen Mum was as snobbish as ever. The only compassion that seemed to be shown from this family in regards to the situation was for the boys who had just lost their mother.

The queen's real reasoning behind not speaking publicly about Diana's death sooner was only to protect her family and to allow them to grieve in private. The only mistake she made was that the world loved Diana, and eventhough she wasn't fond of her, the queen's family are public figures and her nation was drenched in heartache. They needed her words to feel a bit more comfort over the situation.

Michael Sheen plays Tony Blair in this film. I never realized what a great and infuencial man he was when it came to the queen herself. If it weren't for Tony Blair, I think that Diana's death would've destroyed the royal family. I don't think any other Prime Minister could've filled the shoes quite as Tony Blair did.

I must admit, I've never been extremely fond of Queen Elizabeth, but after seeing this movie, I realized that she does what she does to protect her family and because she truly doesn't know any different. She has been sheltered her entire life and had to grow up extremely fast. Although, that does not make excuses for her behavior, I believe Diana's death was a huge learning experience for her.

This movie is a wonderful way to get a glimpse into the royal family's lives. I was surprised to see how normal they lived...well, as normal as a royal family can live. I was shocked to see just how much they loved the outdoors and how independent Queen Elizabeth was. During this film, I just kept thinking what a selfish person the queen was, but by the end of it, I realized just how hard she tried to keep her family together and have some integrity about the entire horrible situation.

This film is a must see for any person that is curious about the royals or even a lover of history. I give this film 4 out of 5 Tiaras on the Amy Gayle Scale.