Celebrated filmmaker Roger Michell’s final dramatic film might also be his sweetest, funniest, and most heart-warming. Definitely belonging to its leading actor, Jim Broadbent, this light, though involving true story will no doubt delight most viewers.
Set in the early 1960s, Broadbent is Kempton Bunton, a working-class taxi driver from Newcastle who spends his days helping his community, whether it be offering free cab rides, to campaigning for free TV licenses for pensioners, which somehow still seems very relevant some sixty years on. He’s also a budding amateur playwright, constantly offering his words to whoever will listen, including his long-suffering wife, Dorothy (Helen Mirren). When he gets fired from his cabbie role – his boss finds out that he’s been ferrying those who can’t pay around for free – Bunton ferries himself off to London to lobby Parliament about the TV licenses, and to personally hand in a couple of his scripts to the BBC.
Meanwhile, news has hit that Francisco Goya’s ‘Portrait of the Duke of Wellington’ is going on display at the National Gallery, much to the expense of the British government, and to the annoyance of Bunton when he gets wind of it. When said painting mysteriously goes missing, fingers are starting to be pointed, a highly skilled team of criminals are thought to be the culprits and most definitely not a sixty-year-old pensioner from the northeast.
The Duke is a really sweet film from the off, Broadbent the clear stand-out as Bunton, a likable character despite his shortcomings and criminal exploits. Mirren is also excellent and shines in every moment she is on screen, though her character is very much in the background of this piece. Michell and co. mix archive footage of London town with Broadbent imposed over the top to pleasing effect, while also painting a picture of the period northeast with effective production design and set decoration.
It’s a film to please the afternoon movie-going crowd, for sure, but its reach is wider than that – any viewer will get something out of the narrative which, rather than completely focussing its attention on becoming a glitzy comedy crime caper, is more wholesome, rewarding and ultimately uplifting. A perfect swan song for its director following his tragic passing in 2021, too.
The Duke
Summary
A sweet-natured, very uplifting film from Roger Michell featuring an excellent central performance from Jim Broadbent.
