Although it’s touched upon in The King’s Speech, it’s surprising that the story of Edward, Mrs Simpson and the 1936 Abdication Crisis hasn’t been given the big screen treatment more often. Whatever angle you take on her, Wallis Simpson was a woman who incurred the lifelong hatred of our own dear Queen Mother. Given that the Queen Mum was not known for tendency to form embittered lifelong grudges, it would be safe to assume that there is a good story here.
What a shame then that Madonna’s film is afraid to let the story stand on its own two feet. On the one hand, we do get the story of how Edward VIII (James D’Arcy) fell for the already twice divorced American fashion icon Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) and (I don’t think I’m spoiling anything here) was forced to relinquish the throne. But on the other, we get a ridiculous framing device which sees the film constantly switching back and forth between the abdication story and that of a 1990s American woman, the stupidly named Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish).
Wally (not to be confused with Wall-E) becomes fascinated by the life of the late Duchess of Windsor after attending an auction of her possessions. We soon learn that Wally has problems of her own and is trapped in a loveless marriage with a dashing debonair but privately abusive doctor (oddly played by Richard Coyle, the daffy Welsh one from the sitcom Coupling).
Abbie Cornish is good in the role but she cannot disguise the fact that this 1990s subplot, which actually gets more screen time than the Wallis story, is a wholly unnecessary distraction from what should be the main story. Andrea Riseborough is showing every sign of becoming the female Michael Sheen. Despite not looking remotely like either of them ordinarily, she is no less convincing as Wallis Simpson than she was as the young Margaret Thatcher in TV’s Long Walk To Finchley.
But many scenes in this film are completely absurd. Edward and Wallis’s Nazi sympathies are glossed over. The rest of the Windsors are dismissed as a bunch of freaks: George V as an upper class loon, George VI as a stuttering bore and the future Queen Mum as a common as muck gossip who at one point shouts at her husband “we’re struggling to maintain an Empire! Worse still, the obsessed Wally Winthrop is soon having conversations with Wallis’s (probably bisexual) ghost. Mohamed Al Fayed appears as a character. And we even get an excruciating scene in which the 70-something Wallis entertains Edward on his deathbed by dancing to “the twist in front of him. Yes, really. It’s ghastly.
Basically, the bonus features (which are actually quite interesting) confirm one thing. With the possible exception of Evita, Madonna has never been in a single good film. I’m actually starting to wonder if it’s any coincidence Guy Ritchie’s long directional slump (between Snatch and Sherlock Holmes) exactly corresponds to their period of marriage. Leaving aside whether Madonna is cursed or not, however, the fact remains: this is interesting but nevertheless a complete and utter mess.
Overall Verdict: A real missed opportunity. Andrea Riseborough is great but the film is crippled by an unnecessary framing device.
Special Features:
The Making of W.E Featurette
UK Red Carpet Premiere Featurette
Interview with Andrea Riseborough and James D’Arcy
Image Gallery
Trailer/TV Spots
Reviewer: Chris Hallam