You have to get past two things in this movie. First, although the historians say that the movie took too much dramatic license, the intimacies of FDR's relationship with his distant cousin Daisy Suckely don't really matter. Second, the movie is predominantly about FDR's relationship with the women closest to him -- his highly political wife, Eleanor, his loyal, adoring secretary, Missy LeHand, his adoring and domineering mother, and the safe, quiet, likewise adoring Daisy. Bill Murray, as FDR, floats through a sea of estrogen, sometimes doing an effortless backstroke, sometimes barely keeping his head above the storm waves. Except for two tete a tete meetings with the young King George VI, there is not one scene in which the President of the United States is shown saying anything of substance to another man. That's not surprising, because the principal source for the story is the letters and journal that Daisy kept secret until after her death at age 99. With one major exception, it's all her point of view.
The reason to watch is Bill Murray's marvelous FDR. He looks nothing like the man, of course, but he perfectly captures the FDR manner of insouciance, amiability and insincerity masking unshakable determination. Its a technical performance on a level with Cate Blanchett's impersonation of Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator.
The high point is the two private meetings between FDR and George VI, which Daisy could have known of only at second hand from FDR, if at all. The young king is shown as not only uncertain of himself but somewhat overwhelmed by his queen, who is herself insecure but with a much stronger will. The tone, set by Murray's FDR, is of the two men finally getting some peace and quiet away from female demands and importunities. He uses his mobility, or rather his lack of it, to make a point about will and determination to a younger man suffering from his own disability. I know this is historical fiction, but if this isn't the way it was, it's nice to think so.
The reason to watch is Bill Murray's marvelous FDR. He looks nothing like the man, of course, but he perfectly captures the FDR manner of insouciance, amiability and insincerity masking unshakable determination. Its a technical performance on a level with Cate Blanchett's impersonation of Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator.
The high point is the two private meetings between FDR and George VI, which Daisy could have known of only at second hand from FDR, if at all. The young king is shown as not only uncertain of himself but somewhat overwhelmed by his queen, who is herself insecure but with a much stronger will. The tone, set by Murray's FDR, is of the two men finally getting some peace and quiet away from female demands and importunities. He uses his mobility, or rather his lack of it, to make a point about will and determination to a younger man suffering from his own disability. I know this is historical fiction, but if this isn't the way it was, it's nice to think so.