At the Movies: W.E.

After wanting to see it for a while I finally got around to sitting down and watching W.E. I didn't know what to expect as I had heard many mixed reviews but the movie was actually I lot better than I imagined. I am not a Madonna fan in the least but I think she did an excellent job directing this movie. The photography was stunning, the storyline gripping and the score absolutely enchanting.

The story follows the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and a contemporary romance between a married woman Wally (named after Wallis Simpson as her mother and Grandmother were both fans) and a Russian security guard, Evgeni.

In 1998, an auction of the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor causes great excitement. For Wally Winthrop, it has much more meaning. Wally becomes obsessed by their historic love story. As she learns more about the sacrifices involved, Wally gains her own courage to find happiness.

I have to say while I adored the historic love story I found the contemporary part of the story a little extraneous. It seemed to make the flow of the film quite stilted and the story would not have suffered if the contemporary section was removed. I felt having a modern storyline that correlates with Wallis and Edwards is a bit of an insult to the audience and doing so made the modern storyline predictatble as we knew that Wally would end up with her 'prince'. I also found Abbie Cornish' acting quite wooden at times. Personally I would preferred to see Charlize Theron in the role.

Having said that Andrea Riseborough made an excellent Wallis Simpson and James D'Arcy was a very cadish Edward.

And of course I cannot end this review without share pics of  the fabulous costumes (which got Arianne Phillips an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design)