W.E. (2012)

Just perfect...

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I suppose there is the germ of a good idea here, and 2011's "W.E." is not unsuccessful. As a directing effort by Madonna, it's okay. And you have to give her credit since she had to know everyone would be gunning for her.In 1998, the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor goes up for auction. One person particularly interested in it is Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish), who is very taken with the love story between Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor, and particularly Wallis' life and other marriages. The film takes us through the courtship and marriage of the Duke and Duchess as well as Wally's disintegrating marriage to William, and then her relationship with the Soviet security guard she meets at the auction house.Personally I've never found anything romantic or sympathetic about Wallis and David. I think Wallis was a great excuse for David to duck responsibility and heap it onto his stammering brother. And neither he nor Wallis thought about what they were going to do once they were married. And what did they do? Roamed the world, showing up at a location when it was in season, and making friends who would write books about them after they died. By the time the couple realized what they had done, it was too late. No breaking up the great romance.Nevertheless, as many times as their story has been told, it's still fascinating, and much more interesting than the marriage of Wally Winthrop and her husband. Not to mention, there is a fantastic performance by Andrea Risborough as Wallis. As Edward, James D'Arcy is incredibly dashing and attractive. It's really the stronger story, and Madonna might have been better off just telling their tale, using a different point of view than others have in the past.The moral seems to be to take a risk and go for happiness. It's a fine moral; I'm just not sure I would use the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as inspiration. Was theirs a great love story? I'm sure it was, and no doubt the Duke's death hit the Duchess very hard. But they were human beings who undoubtedly fought, took one another for granted, and had some misgivings. And that's the big problem with idealizing any romance - in the end, the people we idealize are too much like us.

I can't stand Madonna. Really. She comes off as pompous and irritating and her music and performances over the past 10 years has been just awful. That said, I went to watch this film fully intrigued not only because I am wrapped up in all things British Monarchy, but because I was terrifically curious just how bad this film was going to be based on all the scathing reviews. Only 13% on Rotten Tomatoes! 18 million dollars spent - and only $500,000 at the box office! Whoa. Must be really bad. I fully expected tripe: "this movie is going to be laughable, I'll be wincing and I'll likely only be able to watch 10 minutes before I turn it off." But you know what I figured out? Hollywood must REALLY hate Madonna and she must be an even bigger Bi*cH than I even thought because this movie utterly holds its own and and yet still the solid unflinching horrible reviews. This is a decent flick. The storyline is unique, the acting is excellent (especially Andrea Rosborough WOW - NO Oscar nomination??), the costumes and music are exquisite. It is not a 10 of course, it is at times a bit hokey, the 1997 characters can be a bit too forlorn and morose, and the storyline may not at all be your cup of tea (it does help to be interested in that time period and high society glamour and of course romance), but it is definitely solid. This film and its director deserves better recognition.

The romance of King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) has been retold many times before, most notably (for me at least) in the TV series EDWARD AND MRS. SIMPSON with Edward Fox in the title role. Madonna's version of the tale juxtaposes the story with a present-day tale involving Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish), her violent husband William (Richard Voyle) and a Russian intellectual employed at Sotheby's in New York, Evgeni (Oscar Isaac). The parallels are obvious enough: Wally identifies with Mrs. Simpson and contrasts her own mundane existence with that of the royal lover. Eventually she comes to realize that she has the kind of life-choices denied to Mrs. Simpson. Shot in rock-video style, with fast cuts preventing any real identification with the characters, W.E. actually seems like an attempt by director Madonna to make sense of her own life as a singer/actress/celebrity. The settings are well drawn; the performances competent (even though D'Arcy looks nothing like the real Duke of Windsor). However the narrative tends to drag a little as it moves towards its predictable end. The film has certain incidental pleasures, notably the appearance of Turkish actor/star Haluk Bilginer as Mohammed Al Fayed.

Slow and pointless. Strangely it manages to be confusing too, jumping between various yanks, all notable for being loud and unpleasant.I hadn't realised that Madonna was involved with this project. It makes sense, though. It's loud, brash and empty.I thought that I was doing a favour to my wife by getting what looked like an entirely girlie film - awash with anti-male prejudice. Sadly she didn't like it either.What a waste.I can't imagine who would want to watch this sort of rubbish. It must appeal to somebody or, presumably, the time and money wouldn't have been wasted on it.