Film puts modern spin on ‘Mary’

Hathaway circles ‘Sesame Street’ movie

By Lindsey Bahr

ary, Queen of Scots’ is an ambitious re-imagining of the Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I saga with modern flourishes and bold performances from Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. But the film, for all its prestige and edginess, its lofty goals and contemporary messages, is not a particularly engrossing experience.

It’s a shame too, because most of the elements are there. The gorgeous costumes and meticulous settings are breathtaking, and they couldn’t have chosen two leads better suited to playing these women, with Ronan as Mary and Robbie as Elizabeth. They just don’t come together very well, straddling an awkward line between wanting to be both a modern referendum on the real struggles of being a female leader in the 16th century and a “Game of Thrones”-style actioner. Director Josie Rourke, who has a background in theater, certainly has a knack for grandeur and drama. But choppy editing and stilted story evolution never really do justice to what should be an epic and suspenseful tale of political machinations and power struggles.

Fascinating

The story itself is fascinating. Mary, a Catholic widowed at 18 from the King of France, returns to Scotland to rule. She has eyes on England too, which is under the rule of her cousin, Elizabeth I, a Protestant who refuses to marry and produce an heir. A husband, Elizabeth accurately concludes, will just try to take the throne from her. And the men in both of their camps try their best to make a peaceful relationship between the two countries impossible.

But the question of a successor remains and becomes urgent when Mary comes back on the scene and starts making her own claims to the throne. The two rulers correspond and negotiate in an elaborate game of chess in which everyone is attempting to manipulate an unstable situation. Elizabeth tries to offer up a husband to Mary, in her own lover Robert Dudley (Joe Alwyn), as a strategic plant. But, Mary, seeing through the plan, weds another Englishman, the charismatic Lord Darnley (Jack Lowden), ensuring that her offspring would have a legitimate claim to the throne.

There are interesting ideas to explore about being a powerful woman in this time. But the script from “House of Cards” creator Beau Willimon seems to oversimplify things. He imagines a relationship that devolves mostly because of Elizabeth’s jealousy of Mary’s youth, beauty and ability to bear children. This point is hammered over and over, as Elizabeth, hearing that Mary is pregnant, gathers her skirt to just see what she would look like pregnant in silhouette. The birth scene is even more noxious, cutting back and forth from Mary in labor, to poor, sad Elizabeth creating the only thing she can – paper flowers.

The film takes enormous liberties with history, bringing the two rulers together for a face-to-face conversation, and infusing the cast with more diverse faces and themes to varying degrees

doing homework between set breaks, he started college at University of Southern California at the age of 16 and graduated with a BA and BM in music, as well as an MA in Sciences.

His musical history includes playing with Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Andre Previn, Johnny Ray, Frankie Laine, the Lennie Niehaus Octet, The Ink Spots, the Chuck Cabot Band, of success. That conversation that apparently never happened is well worth the factual leniency. It’s the scene that the whole film is building toward and both Robbie and Ronan are extremely compelling – vulnerable and introspective yet also fierce and unwavering – in this power showdown.

Unfortunately the journey to get to this part is long and, for long stretches, quite dreary and dull. “Mary, Queen of Scots” also has the misfortune of coming out around the same time as the deliciously compelling and lively Queen Anne film “The Favourite” and might get lost in the shuffle. This is a more staid and straightforward experience, and, for some costume drama enthusiasts, possibly even the preferable one. But for this critic, “Mary, Queen of Scots” was royally underwhelming.

“Mary, Queen of Scots”, a Focus Features release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “for some violence and sexuality.” Running time: 112 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

LOS ANGELES:

Also:

Anne Hathaway has been offered a starring role in Warner Bros’ “Sesame Street” movie, sources tell Variety.

Sources close to the situation say Hathaway has not decided whether she will film the movie yet as the actress is also fielding an offer for Robert Zemeckis’ “The Witches”.

“Portlandia” director and co-creator Jonathan Krisel is set to helm the live-action pic. The film will be a musical, according to sources, which Hathaway is no stranger to, after winning an Oscar for he role in “Les Miserables”. Warner Bros will co-finance with MGM. Shawn Levy is producing with Michael Aguilar. Mike Rosolio penned the first draft, while Chris Galletta wrote the most recent version, which he’s polishing. Jesse Ehrman is shepherding the movie for Warner Bros. Sesame Workshop, which holds the rights to the show, will also be involved in the development of the project.

The educational series, which premiered in 1969, features a combination of live-action and puppetry, as well as animation. It is best known as the home of the Jim Henson creations Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and Elmo.

After spending years on PBS, Sesame Workshop signed a fiveseason deal in 2015 with HBO, and the show continues to air in 2018. Levy has been working on the project since 2012 when 20th Century Fox held the rights and continued to develop after they shifted to WB.

Hathaway and WB are coming off their summer hit “Ocean’s 8”, a spinoff of the “Ocean’s Eleven” movies. She can next be seen in the thriller “Serenity” and the comedy “The Hustle”, and recently wrapped production on the Netflix drama “The Last Thing He Wanted”.

She is repped by CAA and Management 360. Collider first reported the news. (Agencies)

and the Dick Pierce Band. He was a regular on Ernst Gold studio recordings for films as well as The Hoagy Carmichael Show on NBC. (RTRS)

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An immersive “Wizard of Oz” exhibit will greet visitors to the Motion Picture museum in Los Angeles when it opens after a long delay in late 2019, organizers said on Tuesday.

A pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the classic 1939 musical, along with costumes, props and exhibits about the behind the scenes making of “The Wizard of Oz”, will be installed in the lobby of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Hundreds of other movie memorabilia on show in the main “Where Dreams Are Made” exhibit will include a pair of doors from Rick’s Cafe from the movie “Casablanca” and the typewriter used to write Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”.

Museum director Kerry Brougher told reporters on Tuesday that the museum had several goals.

“We want to convey the emotional and imaginative power of film... We want to explore the impact of cinema on society and culture at large and most importantly, we need to ensure film’s history and its legacy for future generations.” (RTRS)