AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

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

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

SnoopyStyle Lonely Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish) feels neglected by her often-absent doctor husband William Winthrop (Richard Coyle). Sotheby's is auctioning off the Windsor Estate including his abdication desk. She falls in love with their romance. She's desperate to have a baby and tries IVF. In flashbacks and in daydreams, King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and his love American divorcée Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) come to life.This Madonna project is beautifully costumed. She was probably meticulous with the designs and costumes. Her directing and writing prowess is another matter. The historical romance lacks a certain heat. It does have an upperclass comfortableness but it feels cold. With his abdication and their rumored Nazi connection, there should plenty of drama to work with. Madonna is stuck on their romance for a little too long and the drama is bled out of it. The performances of the royals are cold. The Nazi connections are papered over as Madonna is obviously making it a case of victim of falsehoods. It's fine to have a point of view but one has to pull it off. As for Abbie Cornish, her role has some big melodramatic moves. Overall, Madonna may have bit off more than she could chew.

soph_ia If I were to review this movie aesthetically it would be an 11/10. It is a nice movie to look at. The Edward/Wallis scenes in particular were pure eye-candy, especially for a period drama lover like me. The score of the movie was also great. It was actually one of the movie's tracks ("Dance For Me Wallis") that introduced me to this movie and made me want to watch it.Sadly, as beautiful as this movie is, it falls rather flat where its story is concerned. The entire Wally storyline should have been omitted altogether. The only good thing about it is that it has Oscar Isaac. This movie would have been great of it was just about Edward and Wallis. I actually thought that was the case and that Abbie Cornish and Oscar Isaac's characters were museum/auction people of sorts and that Edward and Wallis' story would be narrated through them.To start with, Wally is a boring character. She does not deserve to be the protagonist of this movie and we as an audience do not deserve to have to go through her boring life when we could be watching a much more interesting story; Edward and Wallis'.Wally and Evgeny were supposed to mirror Wallis and Edward which I frankly found stupid because they really didn't have that much in common? You are hardly creating a parallel just because the characters' names start with the same letter. I also found Wally's name cheesy, much like the explanation behind why she's called that. I get that it was a big part of the film that she's obsessed with Wallis but I think they could have easily made that point even if her name was Jessica or Sarah. Her being called Wally was something you'd expect from a story written by a twelve-year-old, not professionals.Another problem with this movie is that although it is a romance the actors don't really have that much chemistry with each other. Oscar Isaac is an actor who I think can be charismatic even next to a cactus but I still did not find Evgeny and Wally's love story particularly engaging. James D'Arcy and Andrea Risenborough are somewhat better together but I still didn't feel like Edward and Wallis' love was so grand and strong as the movie wanted us to think. I actually find that they have more chemistry in pictures (like that promotional picture of them on the beach) than they did in action.All in all I think that if they omitted the Wally storyline altogether and kept it about Edward and Wallis only (but still found a place for Oscar Isaac in that storyline because he is frankly too awesome) this movie would have been a lot better.

EvelinaDim On a winter Saturday evening with tea in hand one wants to watch a nice story, a romance perhaps. Browsing through the film options on that genre W.E would perhaps feature under the apprehension, guilty pleasures not high expectations category and with Madonna under the directorship comes with a condescending feeling of poor cine plot quality and a mainstream story line. Curiosity, a good cast and movie was rented...Two hours later the deceiving nature or preconceptions was confirmed...The storyline based on Wallis Simpson and King Edward's relationship, excluding the public and royal element, is another one of an affair, however of a great romance and the uncompromising need of a man and a woman to share their lives. Hardly and innovation. However, the palindromic movement between past and present and the similarities in the female nature for mending, preserving, enduring well acted by Abbie Cornish as Wally, a contemporary woman trapped in a dysfunctional relationship and Andrea Riseborough (Wallis) a historic figure but mostly a woman in '30s being bigger than the mediocrity of her marriage. Madonna, delivered a fairly satisfactory result following the historical facts of the relationship, however the angle of which the relationship was viewed from is more important than the historical accuracy.The film explores the different ways the two women deal with their quest for true love, and the power in trusting their instincts. Wally's need for escapism, identity and a point of reference to relate to, lead to an infatuation with the tales of Wallis Simpsom. Abbie Cornish gives a good performance portraying the journey from sadness, insecurity and self depreciation through the train of hope to a place of contentment and that collarbone of most movies of such genre that always something happens that enlightens you and you know what the right thing to do is. She is transformed from the wife hidden behind plain dark outfits to a confident woman in tailored Diors.The photography is very eye pleasing and smooth; combined with the sharp and couture costume designs appropriate to the strength of the characters of the leading figures, make a strong screen visual outcome.Maddona delivered a good movie, one for many women to see themselves in, to relate to and be inspired, to trust their wants, and persevere for what they believe is right which may not be in agreement with the society's consensus. Overall, a very promising directorial debut and one to watch.

l_rawjalaurence The romance of King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) has been retold many times before, most notably (for me at least) in the TV series EDWARD AND MRS. SIMPSON with Edward Fox in the title role. Madonna's version of the tale juxtaposes the story with a present-day tale involving Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish), her violent husband William (Richard Voyle) and a Russian intellectual employed at Sotheby's in New York, Evgeni (Oscar Isaac). The parallels are obvious enough: Wally identifies with Mrs. Simpson and contrasts her own mundane existence with that of the royal lover. Eventually she comes to realize that she has the kind of life-choices denied to Mrs. Simpson. Shot in rock-video style, with fast cuts preventing any real identification with the characters, W.E. actually seems like an attempt by director Madonna to make sense of her own life as a singer/actress/celebrity. The settings are well drawn; the performances competent (even though D'Arcy looks nothing like the real Duke of Windsor). However the narrative tends to drag a little as it moves towards its predictable end. The film has certain incidental pleasures, notably the appearance of Turkish actor/star Haluk Bilginer as Mohammed Al Fayed.