The Lost King

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.

I went to see this movie on a whim not knowing much about it at all. I vaguely remembered the story appearing in the news some years ago. Sally Hawkins turns in a moving performance as Philippa Langley. The inclusion of her "visions" of Kind Richard could have been badly handled but here it lends both humour and pathos and its a nice touch. This movie was an unexpected pleasure and brought a tear to my eye more than once. Philippa's passion is inspiring and this is as much a story of the woman herself as it is about the discovery of Kind Richard.

It is clear that the writers take much creative licence with the story, which appears to take place in a matter on months but no doubt took years of research in reality. This kind of thing is to be expected with any dramatisation of reality. I'm sure the University of Leicester will have a lot more issue with the creative licence taken than I do as they don't come out of it looking at all good! However, the story is told from the perspective of Philippa Langley, and having since watched some real footage following the discovery of King Richards remains, it is clear to see she was sidelined and undermined and so it is nice to see her side of the story.

Recommended!!

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.

This is Sally Hawkins' movie. Her performance plows past any weaknesses. The film (which is very entertaining overall; don't misunderstand me) is worth seeing on the basis of her work alone. Yes, on the poster's she is co-billed with Steve Coogan; but his role is relatively minor. He co-wrote the script, and no doubt helped get the film made. But it's her show.

The basic story: Philippa Langley works in a mid-level, deadend job, and thanks to some health issues, she struggles a little with enjoying day-to-day life. When she's passed over for a promotion mostly because she's not young, she has a minor life crisis. Her marriage has crumbled, her two sons are pretty decent to her, but still clueless and she's a bit at her wits end. In this state-of-mind, she attends a performance of RICHARD III, and is struck by his story and wonders if history has treated him fairly. (Was he really a murderous, villainous hunchback?) She's driven to discovered the truth about him, and dives into history books, a group of pro-Richard "kooks" and finally, into the desire to find the true ___location of Richard's remains. He's been unaccounted for (and not really sought) for over 500 years. Why would this amateur archeologist expect to have any luck finding the lost king?

As this is a true story, you can readily find out how her journey went. But what any news articles WON'T show you is how this journey became an obsession that ruled Philippa's life for so long. And how she had to fight not only a patriarchy, but a patriarchy full of particularly disagreeable academic snobs. It's a journey of her empowerment, which culminates in a few moments that make you want to just stand up and applaud.

Hawkins navigates us through all of this expertly. We have sympathy for her character even as we recognize that she's a "difficult" person. She's touchy and twitchy. She speaks up at "inappropriate" times. (Inappropriate in quotes, because it all depends on who it's inappropriate to.) She is an unlikely hero, and yet, she ends up a hero to herself and her family. (The world at large is another story.)

This movie is full of moments of very British humor. Everyone is perhaps a bit wittier than real life, but virtually every character has a little room to breathe. Coogan is good in a role that calls for him to be largely unlikeable, yet keep us at least marginally on his side. It's a quiet film that nonetheless moves forward with nice momentum.

The script includes the character of Richard III himself, who appears to Philippa as a largely quiet character, seemingly holding her to account for her actions. To me, this device was really not needed. Philippa's own explanations for what she's doing are strong enough reasons to follow her story avidly; we don't need a "cute" device like a phantom king.

But really, just sit back and let the quietly brilliant Hawkins carry you through the film. She's an engrossing guide.

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.