Everyone is familiar with the legend of JFK and Marilyn, but what about Franklin and Margaret? In his latest film, director Roger Michell invites you to attend a weekend at FDR’s upstate New York manor, along with the king and queen of England and a handful of women he’s slept with. What is so misleading about this particularly bland film is the charisma of its actors––FDR’s dry wit plays nicely to Bill Murray’s own, and Laura Linney, always a film festival darling, plays Margaret Suckley with a wide-eyed innocence that tows the line between sympathetic and Bambi–esque. While the King and Queen provided the majority of the comic relief for an otherwise mediocre film, it is impossible not to compare them to the dyamite duo of Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter in the same role just last year. Ultimately, it didn’t matter how interesting any part of the film might have been––what stood out was that scene about five minutes in when FDR got an “Animal House”–style HJ from his cousin. Frisky!
2/5 stars
