Movie Review: The Duke

Based on the real life story of Kempton Bunton, The Duke is a comedy drama film featuring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren in the leading roles as Kempton and his wife Dorothy respectively. The premise of The Duke follows Bunton and his family as he seeks to look out for the common man and bring forth new legislation that would provide free tv licenses to old age pensioners across the entirety of the UK. While down in London attempting to protest his cause, Kempton ends up returning back to Newcastle with the painting of the Duke of Wellington by Francisco Goya with intentions to blackmail the National Gallery to make a hefty donation to charity for it's return. The remainder of the film follows the drama and comedy that Bunton swirls up in the wake of this and how his eventual trial for the theft was resolved.

From a narrative stand point I managed to sync with the story of the film super easily. The idea behind Bunton is he is a every-man who seeks to support all of the good people around him. His honest intentions and charming sense of humour make him a real easy character to centralise the film around and he's made even more compelling to watch thanks to Jim Broadbent's superb performance. The idea of seeing Kempton do such a large and dramatic action like stealing a priceless piece of art, only to see him fumble and skitter around trying to keep it hidden and ransom it off for a charitable cause is such an endearing premise and it's filled to brim with such witty and enjoyable humour. Bunton is only one part of the film however, a lot of the core of the film resolves around his relationship with his family and friends. His wife Dorothy is often the one who has to clean up after his acts of rebellion and she is cemented by the performance of Helen Mirren  She plays the character with a great sense of resilience but there a subtly to the deeper emotions she tries to keep hidden. Their son Jackie, young and idealistic looks out for his parents and cares for them deeply and he helps bridge a crucial link between the troubled past the family is trying so hard to face. It's through these main characters and the multitude of side characters we see the heart of this narrative is geared around doing something greater than yourself and standing up for your beliefs in the face of adversity. 

It's a wonderfully filmed and paced movie in a lot of ways too. I love how the film utilises the northern landscape of Newcastle and showcases it in intimate fashion. The use of colour and camera angles helps establish a close and very homely feeling when living through Bunton's every day events. I think there's a great balance when it comes to the films tone as well. It's first and foremost a comedic film, at nearly every opportunity Bunton and co are reacting and providing countless laughs which keeps you engaged. On the flipside however it's capable of offering a nice contrast to the humour when it chooses to get serious and often at times quite emotional. I think it's a brilliant sign of a great film when it manages to balance the nuances of emotions across the entirety of it's runtime and not feel disingenuous at any point.

To conclude, The Duke is well worth the price of admission. It feels low stake when compared to other bigger grander films out there, but sometimes low-stake films are really nice and offer a lot more quality than you expect. The story of Kempton Bunton and his grand theft of the Duke of Wellington is brought to life brilliantly by a collection of amazing performances and a great mix of emotional tone all throughout.