If it sounds like a bit of a soap opera, it is. Hyde Park on Hudson is a revelation of a film featuring Bill Murray and Laura Linney. It is a biopic but lasers in on the 1939 visit of King George to Franklin Roosevelt’s hometown hideaway in New York.
Hyde Park on Hudson (Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Samuel West, Olivia Colman) – Who knew that Franklin Roosevelt, the only President to serve more than two terms and the role model for “Progressives” was such a lecherous scoundrel? (Apparently, I should have, since it has been well documented.) This fact, uncovered most vividly in letters found after the death of one of his mistresses (who happened to be a distant cousin) many years later, is one of many revelations in this independent film.
Portrayed convincingly by Bill Murray, President Roosevelt holds court from his office at his mother’s mansion, known as Springwood, in Hyde Park on the Hudson River in New York. The movie never strays from Hyde Park and almost all takes place in the time leading up to and during the visit of King George and his wife, Elizabeth, right before World War II. The King comes hat-in-hand in June 1939 to ask for American support for the upcoming war. Played expertly by Samuel West, the King is not particularly confident, having just ascended to the throne when his brother abdicated (see The King’s Speech for all the details). His wife, Elizabeth (played by Olivia Colman here in a very different manner than Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech), is dubious of everything American for good reason. She feels that the Royals are being snubbed or worse, pointing out the condescending wallpaper and the planned picnic featuring the much-maligned American institution, the hot dog.
But make no mistake about it; this story is about Franklin and his sixth cousin, Daisy Suckley (magnificently played by three-time Oscar nominee Laura Linney). For no apparent reason, the President summons Daisy to Hyde Park, ostensibly to touch base with his distant relative and to escape the stresses of the presidency. He shows her his stamp collection and the relationship grows from there. More is revealed as the movie progresses from flirtation to more … and more.
Murray and Linney are strangely electric, a level of chemistry I wasn’t expecting. Murray plays Roosevelt as very complex, at once confident and insecure, jovial and troubled, claustrophobic yet social. Linney’s Daisy operates in a much narrower range, an even tougher accomplishment. She is anything but confident; Franklin completes her. It is an understated but bold performance. Equally impressive is Olivia Williams’ characterization of Eleanor Roosevelt, the independent wife of the President (and also his distant cousin). Williams doesn’t overdue Eleanor’s unique and grating voice but she captures the First Lady’s independent nature and her understanding of her husband’s place in history, his limitations, proclivities and dependencies.
If Hyde Park on Hudson has deficiencies, it is in the very limited stage and storyline. It covers such a small sliver of Roosevelt’s presidency and his life that the audience feels cheated even as we feel like we are privy to both a little known glimpse of history and a few salacious secrets. This small film has beautiful photography, too. It captures a world of the rich in a time of great national woe. The lead-up to war seems to hang over the film but never intrudes even as King George comes to beg for help.
By all means see this fine film but don’t expect much more than a great period piece with a light touch.