movie_watcher 1234 I love watching period movies. I really like Helena Bonham Carter, she is one from my list of favorite actresses, and I really looked forward to watch an old movie of her when she was young and at the beginning. She is a talented actress and even when she was young she still gave great performances. I look forward to watch Hamlet too because I've seen some samples on the internet of her Ophelia and I enjoyed them. As for this movie, I like it. A decent and bittersweet story of two young people who are persecuted by the ones who gave them life only to accomplish their own selfish interests in ruling a kingdom. But when they discover how much power they posses as the next rulers, their ideas to change the world and make a better place, while also enjoying life and their love makes everything interesting and sweet. The actors did a great job, the costume's were amazing, and it's a really inspiring story about how power, money and selfishness can change some innocent's people destiny.Worth watching in a quiet evening.

lannaheim I don't recall where I learned of this film's existence, but there must have been a reason I picked it up without knowing much about it. Including not knowing I'd be watching another lovely Westley. Cary Elwes is genuinely good. To my mind, everyone in this film plays their roles splendidly. And I have never, in all my (seriously) vast reading, encountered this story of English history. It's especially good when you watch this film knowing that in 1986 CGI doesn't exist, special effects are minimal, and people don't all have plastic surgery and personal trainers. Bonham-Carter is the wonderful talent she has always been. But Elwes, oh, my. Funny how so many things are reminiscent of scenes from The Princess Bride (apparently Carl Reiner selected Elwes based upon his acting/presence in this film). In any event, I just had to comment on this, and also to say, I would have given it a 9.5 if I could, just because of the overbearing soundtrack, which I found annoying and distracting. I do believe we could have figured out what emotions to feel without all that trumpet music. I definitely recommend this film to...well, most people, I guess. I don't think you had to be an intellectual to like it.

lauradenoon I can't decide if I was more disappointed in the acting, the casting, the script, or the directing. Let's begin with the audio... much of the whispered dialogue is way too soft to be understood, making it difficult to understand and appreciate... this happened time and time again. The plot... for someone knowing very little about the history, there was insufficient development to make it clearly understood how Lady Jane became queen. Character development... there was very little; there seemed to be a severe lack of depth in defining the characters' personalities and not surprisingly a great lack of ability on the part of the actors to bring out anything but the most superficial qualities of their characters. The acting seemed contrived (example is the scene when Jane is being spanked... the crying is so fake). The directing/production... it seems as if nearly every scene ends without a climax... the pauses beteween dialogue exchanges are awkward; the scenes seem to jump from one to the other without flow. The script is mundane, boring... an example would be the scene where Jane and her husband are breaking the glasses "it is done" over and over with no sense of build or progression or climax. Ah, the music... alternating between something of a 15th century feel and then 20th century romantic fluff. I can only say that I wish I had that 2 hours of my life back.

bkoganbing To see the real story of where Lady Jane Grey's tragic life had it start one might look at the Disney film, The Sword and the Rose. In that one, soldier of fortune Charles Brandon (Richard Todd) wooed and won Henry VIII's sister Mary (Glynis Johns). Their grand daughter was Lady Jane Grey who for a brief nine days was recognized by some as the Queen of England. Jane Grey (1537-1554) was a quiet, learned, and pious young woman who was a pawn in a power play by the Duke of Northumberland played by John Wood. The minor King Edward VI was a sickly lad who inherited the throne from his father Henry VIII. His original guardians were his uncles Thomas and Edward Seymour, but they got to quarreling and both eventually made it to the executioner's block. In fact Lady Jane Grey opens with Edward Seymour's execution and the Duke of Northumberland assuming guardianship.But he knows he's got a sickly dying king and to preserve the newly formed Anglican church that will go by the boards if the Catholic Mary Tudor inherits the throne, he needs a Protestant on the throne. Of course he wants to insure his own dominance. To do that he and Jane's parents get an arranged marriage with his youngest son, Guilford Dudley who mostly is interested in sampling the fleshpots of whatever town he's in. Still he's a handsome bloke if I do say so.Lady Jane gives you the politics, but concentrates on a legendary romance that actually developed out of this arranged marriage. Cary Elwes as Guilford and Helena Bonham Carter as Jane are one appealing pair. They may or may not have been that taken with each other as presented here, but why let that get in the way of an appealing story.By all accounts John Wood as the Duke of Northumberland was as big an intriguer and egomaniac as presented here. Allegedly he had one overbearing personality and the royal council went to the Catholic Mary rather than deal with him any longer. A lot of them had reason to regret that shortly.Sara Kestelman and Patrick Stewart are Jane's parents, a pair of greedy rogues if there ever were. Stewart gets his just desserts, but Kestelman as Frances if anything was downplayed. She actually gave up her place in the line of succession for her daughter because between all of them, they thought they could control Jane and Guilford. By all accounts she was one malignant witch of a woman who actually survived it all.The most touching performance here is young Warren Saire as the terminally ill Edward VI. The kid who changed places with a doppleganger beggar boy did not have a happy reign while he was in his minority. He so wanted to live and secure a Tudor succession.Lady Jane isn't accurate history, but it's still a fine film with a good cast and thoroughly enjoyable.