Romancefest 2015: Mrs. Brown

I've been meaning to sit down and watch all of 1997's UK flick MRS. BROWN ever since it came out. Siskel and Ebert talked about it on TV multiple times that year and sang its praises. I remember seeing part of it on VHS in high school, but for whatever reason I never got around to seeing the whole thing until now.

Nicely directed by John Madden, who went on to more fame with SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and later THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, MRS. BROWN is the quiet, gentle love story, inspired by reality, about the lonely and mourning Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) and her Scottish manservant, John Brown (Billy Connolly) – a friend of her late husband's who has been dispatched specifically to cheer her up.

Most of the movie works because of the leading duo. Judi Dench and Billy Connolly are great together. It should come as no surprise that Dench is great – in the years since MRS. BROWN, she's turned in even more great performances on a consistent basis. Connolly also has a natural charisma and charm. It's actually a mystery he doesn't star in more movies. I could sit and watch him talk for hours.

Dench's Victoria is so distraught over her husband's death she has become reclusive and removed from society. In her absence, the Prime Minister (Antony Sher) is losing power. Her son, the Prince of Wales (David Westhead) is none too pleased with any of this.

When Brown arrives, he breaks all of the rules, of which there are many. He supplants the Queen's chief secretary (Geoffrey Palmer) as head of the household, and becomes the Queen's confidant. People begin to speculate it is more than a friendship.

It is true, Brown loves the Queen. He loves her so much he's willing to piss her off. Everyone else surrounding the Queen is either a yes-man or someone trying to manipulate her for political or societal reasons. Brown is the only one who will give her any opinions or advice, even if she doesn't want to hear it. It's not an easy way to live, but it is one of the purest signs of love – if you're willing to make someone do something they don't want to do, but you know they need to do it, you're probably in love with them.

And, if you face your fears because someone was brave enough to tell you to, you're probably in love with them, too.