Spencer (2/10)

by Tony Medley

116 minutes

R.

Director Pablo Larraín is the one who tried to assassinate Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ reputation in 2016 with Jackie. He’s back at it again, only this time it’s Princess Diana who is his intended victim. I’m not sure why a Chilean director has assumed the mantle of telling stories about American and British iconic women, but Larraín apparently thinks he’s the guy.

He starts the movie with a graphic that says it is a fable. If so, why make up such nonsense about a woman about whom so much is known? Larraín (from a script by Steven Knight) imagines what a family celebration of Christmas at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate “might” have been like. What ensues is libelous and despicable. It’s almost as if the Royal Family was behind this attack on Diana. And it wouldn’t be the first time that happened in England. Remember Shakespeare’s assault on Richard III, which was a clear attack by the House of Tudor (Elizabeth I) on its predecessor, the Plantagenets. Poor Richard has never been able to survive Will’s calumnies.

Forget what you read elsewhere; this is no biopic and it doesn’t claim to be! It’s fiction with real people doing nothing they ever did. Larraín pictures Diana (Kristen Stewart) as manic, uncooperative and intentionally antagonistic to everyone except her children. He creates incidents that are so absurd I won’t even attempt to describe what he has her do, like posing as a scarecrow in the middle of a field to stop a hunt (oops; the devil made me do it).

There are only two positive aspects of the movie. This first involves Stewart. I have always been an admirer. I’ve never thought of her as someone with Hollywood Star beauty, more a woman with outstanding ability. She’s attractive, but nothing entrancing, like, for instance, Amy Adams or, for older folk, Gene Tierney. In Spencer, though, she is drop dead gorgeous. She should sign Director of Photography Claire Mathon to a lifetime contract to film her always. I couldn’t believe how beautiful she comes across.

The other plus is Timothy Spall’s performance as Major Alistair Gregory, who is kind of a major domo trying to control Diana’s outlandish behavior. He is appropriately annoying, as he is supposed to be.

That’s it though. There’s nothing else positive about this film. Adding to the woes of the film, Stewart and others speak so fast that half of the dialogue was unintelligible. Neither I nor my assistant could understand much of what was said.

Diana was miserable throughout the film. My assistant and I could identify. We were as miserable knowing we had to sit there for almost two hours enduring this totally made up dreck.