Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2013

A potentially intriguing but ultimately aimless look at the 1939 visit to FDR’s upstate New York estate by England’s King George VI to seek America’s participation in the coming war. The scenes of the crippled President (Bill Murray, who grows on you) interacting with the shy, stuttering King (an able Samuel West, but no Colin Firth) are energetic and insightful. Problem is, all this energy dissipates abruptly when the film moves into the parallel story of the allegedly randy Roosevelt diddling his mousy fifth cousin. Daisy is so bland that even the excellent Laura Linney can’t make her interesting.