SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

mwelliott99 I enjoyed the first half which although embellished was entertaining and intriguing. But half way through it turned into a woman and a Muslim as the good guys contrasted with the British establishment and an anti empire rant. But then it was produced by the BBC and Stephen Frears, both liberal, progressive anti white British men types. Boring!

azim_60616 Kinda insulting to IndianaKinda insulting to Indiana

ravitchn While the acting here is very fine, particularly that of Julie Dench as the old queen, the plot is weakened by two very contrary cliches around which the entire story revolves.First, the cliche, and all chiches are partly true or they would not have become cliches, first the notion that the British in the Victorian period were racist about colored people even though Britain had millions of them in their African and Indian possessions. The hostility towards Abdul the Muslim Indian companion of the old queen was shared by the royal family, especially by the future Edward VII (Bertie) and by the staff in the palace who took care of the queen's every need. They felt insulted by the presence of an Indian colored man in their neighborhood and tried to coerce the queen into letting him leave. The second cliche is that of the alleged immense philosophical wisdom and religious insight of the Indians, no matter how lowly their origins. The queen regards every word out of the mouth of Abdul as brilliant, philosophical, and worthy of deep respect. Of course the west has long been misled by the apparent religiosity of the Indians, but these were always Hindus not Muslims and Abdul is a Muslim. This become relevant later on in the plot, but the notion that Indian Muslims, the lowest of the low after the fall of the Mughal empire, were worthy of respect for their thought is ridiculous. So here we have the typical western attraction in the person of the queen for Indian thought. Yes, India is the most religious country in the world; it is also the most dirty, the most dismal, and the poorest. Sensible westerners do not stand awestruck by Indian thought, which is usually self-righteous and oblivious to the real faults of Indian culture. You can admire the Taj Mahal, as Abdul urges the queen to do, but there is much more to India than a couple of beautiful palaces. The story is interesting to be sure but the two major cliches make it in the end rather less than worthwhile. Edward VII comes off very badly; he was not a bad bloke, he just got tired of wating for the queen to die and for him to become king. Charles Prince of Wales today is in exactly the same position, but Queen Elizabeth is not foolish enough to become enamored of some Indian fellow with alleged wisdom. She is probably more queenly than Victoria.

sddavis63 In many ways, Victoria & Abdul feels almost like a sequel to 1997's "Mrs. Brown" - including the fact that Queen Victoria was played in both by Judi Dench. Dench was predictably superb in the role - it's not wrong to suggest that this was a role that she was born to play - and I have to say that while I enjoyed "Mrs. Brown," I actually thought that for a variety of reasons this was the better of the two movies. In spite of that fact this movie at times came across as light-hearted (perhaps a tinge of comedy-drama to it) it also, to me, seemed to have more depth to it - especially its sometimes under-stated but always very present reflection on British colonial attitudes toward India and race.Like "Mrs. Brown," "Victoria & Abdul" focuses on a most unlikely friendship. This is set late in Victoria's reign. She is elderly and she is lonely. She's been a widow for a long time (her beloved Albert having died almost 30 years before), she's largely estranged from her children and she's surrounded by courtiers and politicians but not friends. She's literally dragged out of bed every morning by her servants - and she's miserable; an old woman simply waiting to die. And into the midst of that comes Adbul Karim (played by Ali Fazal.) Brought to England to present a ceremonial Indian coin to the Queen, the two somehow strike up a friendship, and Abdul becomes almost like a son to her and becomes very committed to her in return. The movie doesn't really make clear what drew them to one another - which is perhaps appropriate, because the tension of the movie is the inability of everyone around her to understand why this relationship has developed. The best answer might be simply that Victoria needed someone, and one of Dench's masterful bits of work in this movie is her portrayal of the difference Abdul made in Victoria's life. Without Adbul, Dench presents Victoria as tired, disinterested, miserable - waiting to die basically. But with Abdul, Dench transforms the character into one that's alive and vibrant and curious - and enjoying her life. It was a very good performance. We can become too consumed by wanting an "explanation" and forget to simply celebrate the power of the connection the two developed. As Abdul rises (eventually Victoria names him her "munshi" - spiritual teacher - much to the chagrin of her court because he's a Muslim and she's the head of the Church of England) the court turns on both him and her because of the relationship.Unlike "Mrs. Brown" - which was interesting but had few real issues of substance to it - "Victoria & Abdul" does actually deal with real issues - especially the British attitude toward India and its people. It was often considered the crown jewel of the British Empire, and Victoria was delighted when she was granted the title of "Empress of India" (by Disraeli in the 1860's mind you and not by the people of India.) And yet the overwhelming British attitude toward Indians was racism and toward India was ignorance - attitudes shared by Queen Victoria, who knew nothing of this place she was so proud to be Empress of. India was another bit of pink (the colour always used for many years to denote the countries of the British Empire) on the map of the world to be exploited for the mother country. There are various ways in which this is pointed out - one of the best being the insistence of the British to refer to Abdul and his friend Mohammed (who made the journey to England with him) as "the Hindus" even though they were Muslim. The Queen's loneliness and isolation is also highlighted. There are a variety of ways of doing so. It's clear that she has a huge family - at her deathbed stands Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany (with whom Britain will be at war in less than 20 years) and who was actually Victoria's grandson. She is constantly surrounded by servants who take care of her every need. She is constantly speaking to politicians. But she's essentially alone. We may not know what caused her to bond with Adbul, but it's not hard to understand why she needed to bond with someone. In the end, the bond represented a threat to those around Victoria - especially her son and heir Bertie (who would become King Edward VII when she died) and who, upon his accession to the throne, finally gets his revenge on Abdul.This is a very well done movie. The performances are first rate, the story is interesting, the attempts at humour work. It drew me in and held me for its entire run time. (9/10)