Queen Anne was one of the few British monarchs still to have had her story committed to film and this was the Oscar winning result. Olivia Coleman stands out as the cantankerous and temperamental last of the Stuart's to reign; but otherwise the performances fall rather flat. The rivalry - and sometimes pretty vulgar visualisation of it - between Abigail & Sarah Churchill doesn't quite work for me and the foppish Nicholas Hoult is a parody of something from "Blackadder". It moves along quite sharpishly, and the craft skills behind it all are second to none, but I can't help feel that the subject matter - and the triplet of three strong women in leading roles earned it more attention that the film actually merited.
