Most of the time feels opulent for opulence's sake, while lacking a cohesive narrative and a truly satisfactory ending. It does shine when relishing in politics, and magnificent bit player acting.

Vallée's direction is finely structured, luxuriating in the elegant art direction and costume design without getting overburdened by it. He mostly focuses on the woman rising to the throne, played nicely by Blunt. She manages to make the period dialogue feel nicely natural, playing each moment honestly, keeping even the biggest scenes free of deadening pomposity. However, she doesn't manage to dig especially deeply into the role either. It's as much fine presentation as earthy performance.

72.500

Great chemistry between Victoria and Albert. Sure, there were some changes that were not historical fact, but it was a wonderful story overall. I loved the song, "Only You" by Sinéad O'Connor :)

"The failure of the film is not so much a lack of historical accuracy or detail as a dearth of historical liveliness." - Joseph Jon Lanthier

A beautiful costume drama that could have used some touching up in all departments, but its sweetness and strong performances hold the film firmly together.

Enjoyability 19/25 Visuals 15/15 Audio 7/10 Acting 9/10 Story/Plot 23/25 Production Values 9/10 Intuitiveness/Ambitiousness 3/5 Bonus 6/10

Was expecting to be annoyed by this, but it's actually very well done all things considered.

The acting is enjoyable enough (although Strong and Richardson turn to hammy handwringing slightly too often to be entirely enjoyable), but the problem is with the script: it's dull, and almost painfully so. Somehow, the fun and intrigue of the time have been stripped away, and what's left is little more than people standing around in costumes while the audience waits for something to actually happen.

Fine costume drama, distinguished by another wonderful performance from Blunt, and a fine array of supporting actors, especially Broadbent as a dottery, drunken king. The film lacks the passion and/or political intrigue that mark the best in this genre, but given the material at its core doesn't lend itself to these things (it's essentially a fairly straightforward courtship story) it remains very enjoyable, if not quite as gripping as you might like.

Good acting but everything else boring.

This movie is actually really interesting, because you can see the crude logic behind the biopic. You can tell that the driving force was the romance. Fine. But they also insist on making it relevant to modern women by forcing Victoria to be feminist icon, which she certainly was not. She said horrible anti-feminist things about babies and husbands. It's The Young Victoria, because I guess The Old Fat Victoria doesn't sell tickets. Even though the Old Fat Victoria is the interesting Victoria.

A pleasant enough historical drama about the burgeoning love of the young queen Victoria and her husband-to-be Albert. The film is pretty to look at and unassuming in a typically British kind of way. However, not much of real consequence happens as the film lacks a strong dramatic hook, something a movie like this really needs to succeed.

reviews, story, Emily B!, (casting)

A testament to the capacity of British thespians, specifically Blunt, Friend, Bettany, Richardson, Strong, Walter, Broadbent, among others, to play any dry and droning history lesson as if it were Shakespeare. (Don't look to Blunt to do what Judi Dench didn't do in Mrs. Brown, speak the Queen's English as a second language. Herr feerst vass Churman.) The rather bland love story ultimately nudges out the pungent family relations, and the only goose bumps come courtesy of Handel and high volume.

Full of great and nuanced performances but little drama.

Nice movie, but it lacks action.

Soild period production, but Vallée made this quite dull somehow. Some nice production values and design, and some very pretty good performances. But its not great. Anyone looking for a great production about Victoria should look no further that the BBC's 2001 mini-series "Victoria and Albert" which is better than this movie in every way.

I'm a total sucker for the sumptuous scenery and costumes of a British period drama, so this was right up my alley. Wonderful performances and a touching and romantic true story. I kind of want a sequel. The Middle-Aged Victoria, anyone?

I'm a sucker for Victorian period pieces and this one's actually about Victoria. It's become a cliché to have actresses play monarchs during Oscar season, but like most clichés, there's usually real drama and power underlying the often absurd courtly melodrama. I've been a fan of Emily Blunt's since "The Devil Wears Prada", and she's risen to every role since, including this one, which I wondered about when I saw the first saw the trailers. She should be in contention.

Vallée skilfully turns a quite interesting historical time to a boring movie. Decent acting, but not much more.

Costume drama with a focus on romance. There is not much going on in it; if you are not big fan of costumes or royal romance I doubt you'll be entertained. Jean-Marc Vallée fails to impress as a director for hire.

A beautiful, interesting, and well-acted period drama. I just wish there was something that could separate it from the hordes of other period films that I've seen in the past

The love story, which is meant to be the center of the film, falls by the wayside when the politics get pumping. I liked that about the movie though.

Dynamic re-telling of the events that led to the most flourishing passage in Britain's history, with gorgeous scenery and terrific performances. A more precise direction would have benefitted the film, but it's still a very interesting one nonetheless.

Mistake - There are heater panels at the bottom of the rooms, which didn't exist in that era.