Movie review: Hyde Park on Hudson

Bill Murray makes for an unlikely President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in “Hyde Park on Hudson,” based on the BBC radio play by Richard Nelson.

The film focuses on the love affair between FDR and distant cousin Margaret Stuckley (Laura Linney). The majority of the film’s action is set during 1939, when the King and Queen of England make the first official visit to the United States of reigning British monarchs.

With the world on the cusp of war, it’s up to King George (Samuel West) to work out the terms of the relationship between England and America should war come to pass.

The film explains that FDR is under great tension, with the Great Depression underway and a likely world war waiting in the wings. That’s the excuse given for his beginning of an affair with Margaret. While the film starts as if it will be about this relationship, it all but disappears in the middle of the film to instead focus on the visiting British royals and their discomfort with American ways.

Unfortunately for the film, it never manages to have a consistent through line or point of view. The scenes with FDR and “Bertie,” as George was known to friends, are the best of the film. FDR compares his physical affliction to Bertie’s stutter, and discusses how each of them is seen by their respective publics.

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