A Royal Night Out | DVD review - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! Elizabeth & Margaret on the VE Night razzle

By
( )
published
A Royal Night Out Bel Powley Sarah Gadon.jpg

Taking a cue from The King's Speech, A Royal Night Out fashions diverting entertainment from a footnote from royal history - the moment on VE Day, 1945, when teenage princesses Elizabeth and Margaret briefly slipped the shackles of royal protocol to join the throngs of Londoners celebrating the end of the war.

Inventing some mildly risqué adventures for the pair, Julian Jarrold's film is not as polished or as witty as its predecessor, and doesn't tug the heartstrings nearly as hard, but it remains a breezy, amiable romp with bags of charm. Sarah Gadon is a sweet-tempered, dutiful Elizabeth and Bel Powley a more broadly comic Margaret, very much the dim, pleasure-seeking flibbertigibbet, while Jack Reynor is the staunchly republican airman who unwittingly becomes Elizabeth's companion and protector for the night.

Certificate 12. Runtime 97 mins. Director Julian Jarrold

A Royal Night Out is available on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand from 7th September, and EST from 4th September, courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4pSV0uCfg

CATEGORIES
Jason Best
Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.