DVD Review: Glorious 39

Too much privilege.

Anne (Romola Garai) is the adopted daughter of Alexander, (Bill Nighy) a member of the Parliament. She lives a very privileged and sheltered life in Norfolk with her (non adopted) siblings, Ralph (Eddie Redmayne) and Celia. (Juno Temple) WWII is impending, and Anne eventually finds some secret gramophone recordings of her family members threatening others in the pro-appeasement movement. When she attempts to learn more, people start dying around her. The film also spends a bit of time in modern day London with Michael (Toby Regbo) who is Celia's grandson, attempting to get more information on what happened to Anne. 

I've talked about my Netflix DVD queue being a permanent disaster area that's taken me ages to get through. I was on a Charlie Cox kick last year and threw this in there. When It got to me last week I looked at the summary again and was like "why the fuck did I do this to myself, it's going to be so boring!"

I was wrong, it's beautifully shot and the costumes and art direction are flawless. It ended up being a good, mysterious film. Garai is good in her role. She's an actress that's been consistent, but not one of my favorites. Redmayne and Temple were excellent as her stuck up siblings. And I got to see Charlie Cox's bare ass so that was worth it.

The ending hurts the film a bit. It was written well, and I hate to say it, but the actors kind of blew it. It felt awkward and overly cliche. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "Listen to them again, Anne." - Gilbert (Hugh Bonneville)

Comments

  1. Great review! I may give this a shot. I did like Juno Temple in Atonement and Killer Joe.

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    Replies
    1. I love Juno Temple, she's amazing. I'll see anything with her in it.

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  2. I've never even heard of this one. Can't say that I'm in a rush as I generally take my sweet time getting to period dramas, but this does sound interesting.

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    Replies
    1. It's not the greatest period piece out there, but it's interesting enough. No rush.

      Delete
  3. Glorious 39 is like...a terrible film name, right?

    This sounds like a direct to video flick (it must have been...since I've never heard of it and I hear of everything)...lol...but maybe one day I'll see it.

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    Replies
    1. It really is, especially since I don't think they ever said why they call her "Glorious" lol

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  4. I'm pretty much with Dell on this one. While reading your opening paragraph, I was thinking I wasn't smart enough to actually comprehend what this movie is about.

    But...given those involved, I'd risk the inevitable seizure this much concentrated thought would require.

    And yeah...the title makes me think this is the ninth sequel to Big Hero 6.

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    Replies
    1. To be fair, I probably did a shit job of explaining it.

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  5. This doesn't exactly sound like a good film, but I'm intrigued. Maybe I'll check it out.

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    Replies
    1. It's definitely not the greatest. Not terrible, but I can see why it's not very known.

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