A 1986 costume drama punctuated only by early turns by Helena Bonham Carter & Cary Elwes. As her cousin, Edward VI, an heir to the throne is about to die, machinations are underway by his top advisor, John Wood, to install his son, Elwes, in an arranged marriage to Carter which does come to pass when the royal succumbs to his illness but not before Wood gets him to sign off on a decree to make Carter queen even though the rightful line should be Mary, Jane Lapotaire. Hoping to make some real change & after their encounter w/some displaced peasants (made peasants because the royals took their lands from them) on their way to their estate puts them in the mind to make some real, substantive change to the realm but history intervenes (their rule only lasted days) when Lapotaire's armies overthrow Jane's forces & she & Elwes are imprisoned to await their fate. Never achieving the heights of other Tudor stories like 1998's Elizabeth or 1969's Anne of the Thousand Days (to mention just two of many), theatrical director Trevor Nunn (who made only 3 films in his career) never captures a compelling visual narrative for the actors to dwell in leaving the film to fall into the pretty pictures in focus category & not much else. Thankfully Carter & Elwes would have better luck w/their next films (Carter w/A Room with a View released the same year & Elwes w/the peerless Princess Bride the following year) but as a calling card, they've could've done worse. Also staring Patrick Stewart (would also gain immortality w/Star Trek: The Next Generation the next year) here playing Carter's father.
