Madonna has been trying to be taken seriously in Hollywood since she debuted on the big screen in 1985. “Desperately Seeking Susan” was followed the next year by the critical and commercial flop “Shanghai Surprise.” “Who’s That Girl,” “Dick Tracy” and “A League of Their Own” didn’t help. The 1996 musical “Evita” did — but she threw all goodwill away with 2002’s “Swept Away,” directed by her then-husband, Guy Ritchie.
The singer seems to have decided she’ll have better luck behind the camera. With “W.E.,” she’s aimed even higher, taking on one of the greatest — and most controversial — love stories of the last century, and with it England’s abdication crisis.
“W.E.” should settle the question once and for all. Here, she assembled a fair-size budget, proven actors and actresses, and an astonishing array of costumes and posh filming locations. So can we, please, finally make a declaration? Madonna needs to accept, at the age of 53, that her talents lie not in the movie business.
| On screen |
| ‘W.E.’ |
| 1 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, James D’Arcy |
| Director: Madonna |
| Rated: R for some domestic violence, nudity and language |
| Running time: 119 minutes |
What’s wrong with “W.E.”? How much time do you have?
The romance between American divorcee Wallis Simpson and the man who became King Edward VIII — and then gave up the throne to marry her — is a fascinating tale. It doesn’t need a framing device to make it worthy to be filmed. But Madonna takes the spotlight off the enigmatic pair and puts it on a contemporary Manhattanite who becomes obsessed with them.
For those who don’t know the history, Madonna, who also co-wrote the film, helpfully provides the details in the form of Web videos viewed by Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish). Wally becomes obsessed with the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as her own crumbles. “What is this, an interrogation?” her husband says, as so many movie men have, when she asks if he’s having an affair.
But then, facts are as nothing to the indomitable Madonna. Bertie, who would succeed his brother on the throne, gave a speech to the Australian Parliament in 1927 without stuttering, but in “W.E.,” he can’t even spit out a sentence to his own family in 1936.
Wally and Wallis meet a few times — hey, this is fiction, Madonna can do whatever she wants, right? There’s no visual style here to speak of, though the soundtrack overwhelms at all the right moments. The theme, though, was clearly the focus. (The romance couldn’t have been — there’s no passion in this film whatsoever.)
Playing an unlikely charmer like Wallis Simpson, a not terribly beautiful woman for whom a man gave up the throne of England, must have been irresistible. But the talented Andrea Riseborough — and every other person of merit — should be ashamed of themselves for enabling this atrocity.
