“The Young Victoria” Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Mike Dolan

Oscar-winning scribe Julian Fellowes ("Gosford Park") brings us his latest period piece, “The Young Victoria,” which explore the early years of Queen Victoria. As with every period piece, one has to speculate whether the actors are there to tell a story or just play dress up.

With the supremely consistent Emily Blunt starring as the young queen, the film already is on the right track. She looks to be in her usual excellent form from this short look at the 17-year-old's rise to power. But it also looks as if Rupert Friend, portraying Victoria’s suitor Prince Albert, is there to command the audience’s attention.

However, is there enough of a story to carry the movie? It looks to be more of a love story than a true biopic, which is both unsurprising and unfortunate. The troubled young Queen’s life deserves better than to be portrayed as a love affair, rather than as a true biopic.

French director Jean-Marc Vallée’s (C.R.A.Z.Y.) has never tackled anything quite like a British period piece and it will be interesting to see his first attempt at capturing the genre.

With somewhat mixed reviews already coming out of England, it doesn’t look as if the Queenography will be too much of a threat come Oscar voting. It’s likely that “The Young Victoria” will get lost among the fold, going against much-buzzed about films such as "Avatar" and "Sherlock Holmes."

That’s not to take away from what very well may be a great movie. With its stellar cast, brilliant performances are a near certainty. Its success will hinge on if there is enough, in audiences’ minds, to set “The Young Victoria” apart from the period pieces that are generally released late in the year. For now, though, the young queen’s film treatment looks to be significantly less interesting than her eventful rule over the United Kingdom.

“The Young Victoria” opens in limited release on December 18, 2009.

View the trailer for "The Young Victoria" below. Thoughts?