40
Sumptuous production and costume design coupled with José Luis Alcaine’s expert cinematography make it a feast for the eyes…but there’s not much more substance.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
The New York Times by Andy Webster
The Queen of Spain, a light ensemble romp from the veteran director Fernando Trueba, has fun with movie lore even as it pillories Hollywood’s deal-making with the Francisco Franco regime in the 1950s.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Brad Wheeler
Trueba, 62, has reassembled a lot of the old cast, most of whom play characters trying to recapture old magic. Make of that what you will. It's fun.
40
Sure it’s meant to be taken in good fun, but the energy keeps getting undercut by over-broad comedy and uninspired scenes, such as a limp musical number in the Isabella movie.
40
The Hollywood Reporter by Jonathan Holland
One of the most unsettling things about Queen is how awkwardly it tackles all this painful, historical material: it’s as though Trueba’s script knows that homage must be paid to it, but it feels shoehorned in.
38
Slant Magazine by Keith Watson
Fernando Trueba fails to probe the political implications of The Queen of Spain's period milieu, which is particularly confounding given the filmmaker’s evident anti-fascist sympathies.
38
The Queen of Spain can only offer scant entertainment for movie buffs and non-movie buffs alike.
60
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Cruz carries the film. She has a ridiculous kind of heroism, and her disguises are hilarious, particularly as a knight, when she insists on wearing a false beard under her helmet.
40
Screen International by Sarah Ward
It might be fitting that a film about a film made under a censor-heavy regime is better to look at than engage with, but it also says much about the slight and stretched The Queen of Spain.
50
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
Had the comedy been sharper, this movie-loving movie might have convincingly meshed its Technicolor caricatures and antifascist heroics.