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Date Watched

January 12, 2019

It was impossible not to love the imagery, the costumes, the settings. It was impossible to like the two queens. The movie positioned them as two implacable forces that were slowly colliding even as they didn't want to. The historical rewrite being that both were women in a man's world, and thus felt a bond to each other. Mary would no bow. Elizabeth could not risk Mary's claim to the throne. The pacing was off, glacial for about the first two thirds, it kicks into high gear as it realizes its running out of time. As it bumps along the majestic Scottish views, the wheels come off somewhere in the journey. It is well worth watching for strong acting and amazing images – but plot wise, it is a thin bodice ripper filled with silly twists of the imagination.