Mrs. Brown

'Mrs Brown' was the unflattering sobriquet applied by Victorian wags to their Queen, played here by the inestimable Dame Judi Dench in the most tremulously reserved performance since Anthony Hopkins quivered his reticent way through The Remains of the Day. Based loosely on actual events, albeit with conjecture a-plenty, the film tells the story of Victoria's relationship with one of her manservants, John Brown (Billy Connolly), following the death of her beloved Prince Albert. A Scots Highlander, Brown is depicted as a plain-spooken, no-nunsense, cut-the-crrrep, down-to-airth fellow whose irreverence and impropriety pump fresh air into the musty, decorous bubble into which the grieving Queen has enclosed herself; this may well have been true of the real Brown, but it's an irritating, facile conceit all the same--no genre is as tired as the one in which an uptight prig meets a wacky eccentric and learns to loosen up. And while Dench is typically fabulous, Connolly, previously best known for his lackluster work on Head of the Class, lacks the formidable presence that, oh, say, Sean Connery might have lent to Brown, which leaves the film dangerously unbalanced. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)[DVD Review—Aug. 2, 2011—Echo Bridge, 105 min., PG, $6.99—Making its latest appearance on DVD, 1997's Mrs. Brown is presented with a fine transfer and Dolby Digital sound. DVD extras include trailers. Bottom line: a disappointing extras package for an uneven film.]