Jim Broadbent Helen Mirren Star THE DUKE Droll and Dame Mirren Shines in Her Role

THE DUKE (2020) is a perfectly charming film based on a true, albeit unbelievable, crime caper.  The unlikely hero is 60 year old Robin Hood wanna be, Kempton Bunton.  Bunton (the indomitable Jim Broadbent) incredulously steals a Goya painting, the of Duke Welling, from the National Gallery in 1961.  He attempts to ransom the painting for a peculiar amount.  The precise amount that would pay the license fees for all the working class veterans in his area.  Bunton was arrested and sent to jail for hooking his telly to the BBC without paying for the required license.  Incarceration rates would escalate in the US if citizens were arrested for clandestine cable connections.  Bunton, can't hold onto any sort of paying job  due to his incessant, pompous chatter or ill advised idealism.  Bunton's is a grandiose, blowhard and a wanna be playwright.   Bunton's persevering, long suffering and hard working wife, Dorothy, is portrayed  by Dame Helen Mirren.  If Mirren were to run for Queen she'd win, easily.  (Oh, I guess that's not how it works). Nonetheless, Mirren is acting royalty.  She gives the the film its heart and soul and the viewer their money's worth.  Mirren's love and frustration for her husband is endearing as well as perplexing.  Just when we've become frustrated with Bunton, he manages to ingratiate himself with his ideals or disarming unflappability.  Bunton is arrested upon returning the painting to the Gallery after realizing the ransom plan is flawed.  His court appointed attorney, Matthew Goode, admits a defense seems futile.  Goode is also one of Englands gifts to acting.  The courtroom drama is somewhat reminiscent of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" with a British flair.  You'll root for Bunton's acquittal.   Director Roger Michell (b S Africa 1956) directed Helen Mirren in "Elizabeth, A Portrait" and Julia Roberts in "Notting Hill". Sadly, the film was released posthumously after Michell's unexpected death in 2021.  THE DUKE makes a jolly good rental for watching at home on the telly.