Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

gavin6942 King Henry II (Patrick Stewart) keeps his wife, Eleanor (Glenn Close) locked away in the towers because of her frequent attempts to overthrow him. With Eleanor out of the way he can have his dalliances with his young mistress (Yuliya Vysotskaya).The film was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky ("Tango and Cash"). It was filmed on location at Spiš Castle in eastern Slovakia, which serves as a nice replacement for 12th century England.Glenn Close received a great deal of praise for this role, far more than her counterpart (Stewart) did. This is probably fair. While both are great, Close went the extra mile, and her raw emotions really shine through. Stewart tends to get a bit melodramatic.

winstonfg It's been a long time since I saw the "original" (film, that is), but I think this version stands up very well. The script, of course, is sumptuous, and the actors clearly enjoy themselves with it. The production also seems less stagey than what I remember of the 1968 version, something which is often difficult to achieve on the small screen.For me, Glenn Close's Eleanor was superb - possibly even better than Hepburn's; but I'd have to see the original again to make sure. She interprets the transitions between scheming power-broker, desolate prisoner and wistful "ex" with a naturalness that I don't remember in the original, yet somehow still manages to deliver the comic lines (and there are plenty) with the timing of a master. And there were only a couple of occasions when I detected any hint of Hepburn's shadow.As for Henry: I like Patrick Stewart a lot, but I'm not sure this was his role. He's always seemed a little brittle when it comes to passion; and if there's one thing Henry was, it was passionate. There are also times when he comes across as declamatory (probably the Shakespearean training) and, while O'Toole could probably be accused of the same thing, I missed his energy. It's also plain that he is older than Close, when in fact Henry was 11 years younger than Eleanor (and that was a lot in those days). That said, he makes a good fist of it; and some of the exchanges between the two of them are memorable.Where this production really scores though is in its drawing of the smaller characters. I hardly even remember what the sons were like in the original, but here they all have distinct personas; with Andrew Howard's Richard the standout. Rafe Spall even manages to flesh out the character of John - by James Goldman's own admission, the worst written of all of them - and John Light's unloved, Machiavellian Geoffrey is perfectly believable. Johnathan Rhys-Myers' ambivalent Philip also hints at the savvy of a man who would go on to become one of France's greatest kings. Only Yuliya Vysotskaya, as Alys, seemed slightly weak - too timid for a princess of France for me - but that probably has more to do with the script than anything.Maybe I'm just a sucker for historical drama, but I thought this was an excellent (and brave, considering the original) effort at depicting two of the most powerful and interesting figures of their time.9/10

donta49001 First of all, please don't be turned away by the title of my review, as this was an amazing remake of "The Lion in Winter". For some reason I wasn't even going to comment on the film, which is weird for me and my big mouth, but I had to reply to the first review that I read from "Tom Mack"....who said that in comparison to Katharine Hepburn, Glenn Close is an actor and Hepburn is a "movie star"?? Are you kidding me??? Don't get me wrong, Glenn Close is an amazing performer and her performance in this remake only reiterated that fact. Her emotional depth is always on point and I have never been disappointed in her talent and performance even if the film wasn't that great.But to compare her to Katarine Hepburn is asinine. A "movie star"?? Maybe you didn't see the original "The Lion in Winter", for which she won the Oscar for, or "Long Day's Journey Into Night" or "Suddenly Last Summer" or "On Golden Pond" for that matter... This is the same actor who NEVER attended a single Academy Award ceremony, just to avoid the "movie star" crap. The same award for which she was only nominated for lead acting roles, has won the most awards in history, and had the most nominations until recently. Please please please give her the credit and respect that she deserves. Glenn Close even stated that she was terrified to play the role because she had to follow-up Katharine's unbelievable performance and has stated on many occasions that Hepburn was/is her biggest inspiration for getting into the industry.At any rate, the remake was wonderfully made, performances were amazing, especially Glenn Close's. She continues to amaze me....but as for comparisons to Katharine, please don't do that. I mean my gosh, it's Katharine Hepburn for goodness sake... Thanx for reading :o)

tom_mack The craft of acting is often unseen to the casual observer. I say this because I find it hard to believe that any one would have anything bad to saw about the remarkable performances of Glen Close and Patrick Stewart. I walked away from watching this film thinking that a special Emmy should have been created for Glen. Riveting, powerful, nuanced, Close's performance astounded, showing depth in the character, and building up to the emotional explosion at the end of the film. I still have chills. And for someone to say there was no chemistry between her and Patrick I just have to say- huh? What were you looking for? The way they collided in the scene toward the end of the film revealed how much they LOVED one another...not how much they hated one another. Those angry sparks in the air had their birth in their status as soul mates.As for comparisons to Kate Hepburn? Come on now...Kate was a movie star, not an actor, and has no where near the range of Close.See this film.