In 1961, a 60-year-old taxi driver stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history. What happened next became the stuff of legend.
Jim Broadbent
Kempton Bunton
Helen Mirren
Dorothy Bunton
Fionn Whitehead
Jackie Bunton
Matthew Goode
Jeremy Hutchinson
Aimee Kelly
Irene Boslover
Charlotte Spencer
Pammy
Jack Bandeira
Kenny Bunton
Anna Maxwell Martin
Ms. Gowling
Sian Clifford
Dr. Unsworth
John Heffernan
Neddie Cussen
Joshua McGuire
Eric Crowther
James Wilby
Judge Aarvold
Craig Conway
Mr. Walker
Richard McCabe
Rab Butler
Sam Swainsbury
DI Brompton
Andrew Havill
Sir Philip Hendy
Dorian Lough
DI Macpherson
Sarah Beck Mather
Press Woman
Heather Craney
Debbie - Clerk of the Court
Darren Charman
The Duke of Wellington
Stephen Rashbrook
Foreman
Sarah Annett
Post Office Clerk
Michael Hodgson
Barry Spence
Cliff Burnett
Wilf
Val McLane
Freda
Ashley Kumar
Javid Akram
Michael Adams
Will Graham
Office Worker
Philip Gascoyne
Press Photographer (uncredited)
Director
Roger Michell
Screenplay
Richard Bean
Screenplay
Clive Coleman
April 6, 2022
8
Nice to finally watch <em>'The Duke'</em> at the cinema, given it had been delayed from September 2020 and I didn't get around to it during its February 2022 release - managed to catch one of the last few showings this afternoon.
I don't usually check out trailers but I did unintentionally see one for this before a different film and it did look good - and I, now that I've seen it, can confirm that to be the case. It's very British, North Eastern English to be exact, with Jim Broadbent sporting an amusing Geordie accent - I'm a Southerner, but it sounded spot on to me.
Broadbent is a great choice to play the main character, bringing all the necessary qualities to a role like Kempton Bunton. Helen Mirren is also involved to pleasant and noteworthy effect. Matthew Goode has a smaller role too.
It is quite the true story that this film is based upon, one that is told in a fun but also meaningful manner - sometimes it is a bit too sweet for my liking, though for the vast majority it's neatly heartfelt. Cool to see the <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/dr-no/" rel="nofollow">Dr. No</a>'</em> connection in there, also.
A charmer. No doubt worth a watch if you get the chance.