Blending his knack of humour, tenderness, and dramatic stakes that speaks to his strength as a storyteller, there’s a bittersweetness to Roger Mitchell‘s The Duke. Sadly passing away prior to the film’s release, his swan song couldn’t seem more perfect as it encapsulates his talents in all the best ways possible.
And The Duke just isn’t any swan song either, it’s a certified bop (as the kids would say), detailing the bizarrely true story of an elderly bus driver responsible – allegedly – for the only painting theft the National Gallery has ever experienced. A geriatric Ocean’s Eleven, if you will, The Duke pits the incomparable Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren together as the ageing, unwilling thief and his put-upon wife, respectively, consistently elevating the already marvellous material throughout; Mirren’s role may be quite thankless on paper, but in the hands of an Oscar winner it’s far juicier than it has any right to be
A thief formed in the Robin Hood mould of doing something “evil” for the sake of the greater good, Broadbent’s Kempton Bunton merely “borrowed” the painting (Goya’s portrait of The Duke of Wellington), holding it for ransom so that the government – who spent £40,000 of public money on the artwork itself – would have no choice but to listen to his plight about giving the elderly and the disabled a fairer go.
It sounds ludicrous, but the Richard Bean/Clive Coleman-penned script injects such honesty into proceedings that it’s near impossible to not be swept away in Bunton’s social conscience; the fact that Broadbent is so fearlessly likeable too doesn’t hurt its investment either.
The film’s culminating moments, where Bunton pleads his case to the court, is literally a crowd-pleasing moment, allowing Broadbent to stir audience emotion with a rousing speech that toes the line of sappy audience pandering without succumbing entirely to emotional manipulation. It’s at once a gentle and ferocious scene that speaks to the story’s universal appeal, Broadbent’s effortless command, and Mitchell’s knack for honouring the truth in his comedic outlay.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Duke is screening in Australian theatres from March 31st, 2022.
