The Lost King

Not exactly 15 minutes of fame but I won a berth in the cathedral at Richard's reinterment. As a result I was very excited about this film and it really was a wonderful movie with Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan portraying these recent events with sensitivity and class. I liked the use of Richard's ghost to enhance the storytelling and the use of poetic licence did not damage the integrity of what happened. Visually, the sets were accurate and all the main characters are represented. Although I would liked to have seen the addition of Michael Ibsen who provided the DNA proof. But as a film about a topical story, it was a lovely satisfying movie.

Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins) is a divorced middle-aged mother of two boys. Her boss sucks. Her ex-husband John Langley (Steve Coogan) has a girlfriend. Nobody treats her seriously. She becomes obsessed with Richard III and even has visions of the dead King. She is frustrated with the popular image of the King as an evil troll cemented by the Shakespeare play. She goes on a journey to find the Lost King and maybe of self-discovery.

Sally Hawkins is the Queen of the meek mousy woman with an inner fire. I can't think of another actress who is a better fit for this role. It's the classic underdog character and apparently it's a true story. The story is pretty simple and very standard. Sally makes this sing.

Amateur historian Phillipa Langley becomes fascinated with the life and death of the much maligned Richard III, she seeks funding, and the hunt begins.

If you're a fan of British feel good comedies such as Fisherman's Friends and Kinky Boots, those films of triumph over adversity, this will definitely hold your interest.

It's a truly fascinating story, and one of the only times I've ever seen Richard III given a bit of positivity in a film, he is often much maligned, known for Shakespeare's play, and for killing his way to the throne.

When the news of this broke it was an unbelievable story, so much controversy, so many view points, I remember it breaking on The BBC, it was quite something.

There are a few snippets I learned about Richard III, and some of the things he brought about.

Sally Hawkins is tremendous, she captivates from start to finish, despite a marvellous line up, including Steve Coogan, Harry Lloyd and James Fleet, she really does shown through.

It's a great film, 9/10.

All in all The Lost King was a very watchable film, With great performances from Sally Hawkin's and a very restrained Steve Coogan.

But I would recommend watching The king in the car Park documentary afterwards as this really has more hard facts regarding the excavation of King Richards body. Philippa Langley wasn't exactly ignored or used by Leicester university.

She was in fact very much the public face of the dig and research. In fact the documentary presented by Simon Farnaby who's presence is pretty much absent from the film puts Philippa front and centre, and it also shows that her personnel emotions were sometimes getting in the way of the actual work.

The one thing the Lost king does well is explain Phillipa's mental state as in the said documentary she seemed over emotional, but I had no Idea about her ME and depression. The film also has a great idea of showing Philippa's relationship with her imaginary King Richard and her obsession with finding him.

The Lost King is a good film, I just wish they hadn't exaggerated the academic villainy and given a little more credit where credit was due.. This isn't Hollywood this is the UK.

No heroes wearing tights. No high action fight scenes. No car chases. No laser guns. Therefore, the people who should be watching this gem of a film, will not ... unfortunately. Sally Hawkins reminds us (again) that acting can be art. Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope, and Michael Jones deliver a touching screenplay. I loved this film. I was especially drawn to the plot line that we often unfairly define people by their physical shortcomings instead of their strength of character. We would all be better humans if more films such as "The Lost King" were made. See this film. And for criminy sakes, get your teenagers to watch it.