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Reviews
To Kill a King (2003)
Tim Roth is back!
To Kill a King Starring Tim Roth, Dougary Scott and Rupert Everett Costume dramas are not my 'cup of tea' and ordinarily I would not be seen within a 1-mile radius of the place where one is being shown, but this one is a good one and because the acting is so good you tend to forget that is a historic piece, as it contains many contemporary themes. *****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT******The film is basically about friendship and loyalty and shared beliefs. The friendship this writer refers to is that between the charismatic and popular General Lord Fairfax (Dougary Scott) and the belligerent and idealistic Oliver Cromwell brilliantly portrayed by Tim (Reservoir Dogs) Roth who lead their army into an uprising against there own King, Charles 1 surprisingly well played by an almost unrecognisable Rupert Everett they accused him of a reign of tyranny and corruption and wished him to be more accountable and sympathetic to the people i.e. be more democratic. They promptly place him under house arrest a move that was popular with all accept the ruling classes of which Fairfax was an integral part. Lady Fairfax, with shades of Lady Mac Beth, not wishing to commit the same class suicide as her husband, with the connivance of other members of her clique succeed in driving a wedge between the two friends.
Cromwell never hid his love for Fairfax who became increasingly uneasy with the treatment Cromwell meted out to enemy and friend alike and drifted away even though Cromwell more a less conceded that Fairfax should be leader when the King was deposed. Cromwell then reluctantly had to fill the void Fairfax refused to occupy Even though on the face of it Cromwell was the aggressor spending the rest of the film despatching the greedy and corrupt and being almost tyrannical himself you cannot but feel that he was the better man both in the sense that he was a true and loyal friend and unwavering in both his lofty, but just beliefs and his comradeship to pal Fairfax who was more interested in milking the popularity he had made to gain even more stature amongst his feudal friends who wished the status quo would continue
Fairfax acknowledge this himself at the end when he spoke of how he 'let his friend down' A good film well worth watching.
Under Siege (1986)
Poignant
This often-underrated movie (the fact that Steven Segal starred in a more illustrious, but worse film of the same name does not help) was probably the first to address domestic terrorism and its resonance in the light of recent events make it a film that should be brought back and re-issued. Peter Strauss is excellent as the FBI Chief who thinks the terrorist acts are by an individual as opposed to a state, Hal Holbrook finds himself as the President considering his retaliatory response against chief suspects Iran. Top marks however go to Fritz Weaver, Mason Adams and EG Marshall the praetorian guard who form the inner circle of advisors who come into direct conflict with Strauss' more cautious approach. An above average TV movie whose storyline is somewhat similar to the more recent but more simply titled Siege starring Denzel Washington