`The Duke' lifted a bit by Jim Broadbent's charming performance
Theft of famous painting dramatized in film that doesn't quite add up to sum of its appealing parts
You can't help falling in love with Jim Broadbent's version of Kempton Bunton early on in “The Duke.”
Having completed his latest play, Kempton is at the local post office to send it off to TV executives he hopes will have it adapted for the screen. That, um, would be a first for the resident of Newcastle in northern England.
“Imagine if Jesus had been born a woman,” Kempton tells the woman behind the counter.
“What's it called?” she asks.
“`The Adventures of Susan Christ.'”
Released earlier this year in the United Kingdom and now playing on these shores (in select Northeast Ohio theaters this week), “The Duke” is a dramatization of the theft in 1961 of “Portrait of the Duke of Wellington,” a painting by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. The theft of the work from the National Gallery in London took Bunton from obscurity to infamy.
It's a fun little tale boosted by the dependable Broadbent's wholly charming performance and strong supporting work turned in by the great Helen Mirren as Kempton's ever-frustrated wife, Dorothy.
And yet despite being directed by Roger Michell — of “Notting Hill” fame — the film falls closer to merely entertaining than entirely engrossing.
We actually meet Kempton on trial for the theft before Michell and writers Richard Bean and Clive Coleman take us back to the aspiring writer's days as an overly chatty taxi driver. His proclivity for unsolicited conversation is one reason he is, as they say, “sacked” by his boss.
Well, Kempton has other things to keep him busy, such as his crusade against older Brits having to pay the licensing fee to receive the BBC on their television sets. (Kempton has removed the component from his set that allows for the TV to receive the BBC signal and refuses to pay for it. He spends a few days in prison for this stance.)
We can understand why her husband can be taxing on Dorothy, who works as a housekeeper for a local government official and his wife to help make the ends meet in their small home. She worries publicity he gets for his antics could cost her this job.
Meanwhile, Kempton is adored by their son Jackie (Fionn Whitehead), whose older brother, Kenny (Jack Bandeira), lives as a petty criminal who invites Jackie to get in on some action.
The film educates viewers on the history of the famous early 1800s painting of Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington. Most notably, the British government paid £140,000 to stop it from being exported
to the United States — a figure many, Kempton included, find astonishing. (The film has a fun time playing up the idea that it may not actually be a terrific piece of art, for starters.)
After it disappears from the gallery and ends up in the Bunton home, Kempton and Jackie devise a spot to keep it hidden from Dorothy and work out ways to snag the reward for its return — money Kempton would like to use to buy TV licenses for a bunch of folks.
We know from the film's
opening that Kempton will stand trial for the theft, during which he's defended rather deftly, if not aggressively, by lawyer Jeremy Hutchinson (a subtly engaging Matthew Goode of “The Offer”).
When you scrape away its reasonably fun heist element, “The Duke” largely is a portrait of a marriage, one strained not just by a husband's tendency for what arguably is irresponsible behavior but also by the loss of their daughter years earlier.
Kempton and Dorothy have handled it differently.
While he blames himself — for buying the girl the bike she was riding when she died — he has channeled his grief into a play about the ordeal. Dorothy, on the other hand, can't even bring herself to visit her girl's grave marker.
This aspect of “The Duke” may not be what gets you in the door, but it is the film at its best, the movie achieving a genuinely moving moment deep into the story.
Otherwise, it's all just a bit better than average, thanks mainly to the captivating Broadbent (“Iris,” “Moulin Rouge”), who's simply perfect for the role.
Mirren (“The Queen,” “The Good Liar”) is a terrific scene partner for Broadbent but probably is a little underused here, disappointingly.
Meanwhile, the work by Whitehead (“Dunkirk,” “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch”) becomes a bit more impactful as “The Duke” reaches its final act.
Ultimately, some may want a bit more from it, but it does have the chance to steal your heart — gone like a painting snatched in the night.