infrequent strong language, moderate sex, discrimination
2020 ( UK ) ( Biography, Comedy, Drama )
DIRECTOR: Rodger Michell
STARRING: Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren
The Duke retells a long-forgotten moment from modern British history when, in 1961, an irritating bolshie know-it-all from Newcastle called Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery which was worth £140,000.
But Bunton didn’t steal it for financial gain, he stole it to make a point. The money the Conservative government had just spent on saving the portrait for the nation could have been used for better things, he believed, such as his personal campaign for free TV licences for the elderly and wounded war veterans.
But when Kempton’s long-suffering wife, Dorothy (Helen Mirren), finds “a stolen masterpiece in me wardrobe!”, it appears that her husband has outdone himself in his quest to battle social injustice at large while driving his nearest and dearest to distraction at home. The result is a warm-hearted film which is funny and unexpectedly touching, too.
(1hr 36min)