movie reviews madness of king george

The Madness Of King George

Willis: My patients acquire a better conceit of themselves.

George: I’m the King of England! A man can have no better conceit of himself than that! Dialogue between the King and his doctor “The Madness of King George” tells the story of the disintegration of a fond and foolish old man, who rules England, yet cannot find his way through the tangle of his own mind. The parallel with “ King Lear ” is clear, and there is even a moment when George III reads from the play: “I fear I am not in my perfect mind.” But the story of George is not tragedy, because tragedy requires a fall from greatness, and George III is not great – merely lovable, and confused.

The film opens in 1788, some years after the American colonies have thrown off George’s rule. He presides over an Establishment that wishes him gone – his own son, the Prince of Wales, waits impatiently in the wings – and over a court scandalized by his erratic behavior. He awakes before dawn, runs in his nightshirt through the fields, pounces on a lady-in-waiting – and, worse still, cannot remember the names of his enemies. His Queen, Charlotte, keeps up a brave front (“Smile and wave! It’s what you’re paid for!” she hisses at the Prince of Wales). When George forces his court to sit through an interminable session of “Greensleeves” being rung on bells, and then asks to hear it again, troubled looks are exchanged: The king is losing it.

Alan Bennett’s play, now filmed with its original stage star, Nigel Hawthorne , still in the title role, is a fond portrait of this befuddled old man. The king is 50 when the action takes place.

He lived on until 1820, blind and hopelessly insane the last 10 years of his life, but the film wisely focuses on his middle age, when there were periods of clarity, and he struggled bravely to keep his wits and his throne.

The film shows both court and parliament acutely attuned to the weathers of the king’s mind. The Prince of Wales ( Rupert Everett ) schemes with the opposition leader Charles Fox ( Jim Carter ) to displace his father (“If a few ramshackle colonists in America can send him packing, why not me?”). Fox’s archenemy William Pitt ( Julian Wadham ), the king’s loyal prime minister, schemes to keep George and his policies in power. And the loving, loyal Queen Charlotte ( Helen Mirren ) is denied access to her husband by the Prince of Wales – a cruel, foppish man, who complains, with a prescient bow to the present holder of his title, “To be Prince of Wales is not a position – it is a predicament.” All of this could be the material for a solemn historical biopic, but Bennett’s play, and the direction by Nicholas Hytner , are more lighthearted than analytical, and the performance by Nigel Hawthorne as the ailing king is barbed and yet lovable: Madness burns in his eyes, but also sweetness and vulnerability, and when he lashes out at his court and accosts its ladies, we sense his suffering.

Medical science at the time could not offer much help: Great attention is lavished on the condition of the king’s stools, and particularly their color. The king performs royally upon the pot, but, as a doctor observes sadly, “One may produce a copious, regular evacuation every day of the week and still be a stranger to reason.” (Future historians were able to deduce from the medical records that George’s mental state was caused by porphyria, a metabolic imbalance.) What saves the king, at least for a time, is the materialization of a man named Willis ( Ian Holm ), who has revolutionary ideas about mental health. During a period of George’s greatest confusion, the serious face of Willis swims into view, along with his portentous words: “I have a farm . . .” On that farm he hopes to shock the king into sanity, and the king is shocked, all right: George: I am the king! Willis: No, sir! You are the patient! The battle of wills between these two strong men is the centerpiece of the movie, and hugely entertaining. Willis, whose approach seems to embody some of the theories of modern psychology, tries to break the king down so he can build him up again. The king resists, aghast that a commoner would so treat the royal personage: “I am the verb, sir! I am not the object!” Holm is perfect for the role – stern, unyielding, and dotty.

It is only when strings are pulled to reunite the king with Queen Charlotte that the pieces fall into place. Reduced fromgrandeur to a sad little old man, he finds that his mind has cleared, and “I have remembered how to seem myself.” The sequence during which he pulls himself together and astounds Parliament is triumphant, and funny.

I am not sure anyone but Nigel Hawthorne could have brought such qualities to this role. Having seen him onstage in London recently, in “The Clandestine Marriage,” a play written during George’s reign, I was struck again by the way he projects a ferocious facade, and then peeks out from behind it, winking. Through the movie, he punctuates George’s dialogue with little verbal tics like “What-what!” and “Yes-yes!” When George emerges briefly from his madness, one of the signs, for those who love him, is the reappearance of “What-what!” The way Hawthorne delivers the line makes it seem, for a moment, as if George has defeated insanity with eccentricity – which, of course, is the madness of the sane.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Nigel Hawthorne as George III
• Rupert Everett as Prince Of Wales
• Ian Holm as Willis

Directed by

• Nicholas Hytner

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The Madness of King George

When King George III goes mad, his Lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation. When King George III goes mad, his Lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation. When King George III goes mad, his Lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation.

• Nicholas Hytner
• Alan Bennett
• Nigel Hawthorne
• Helen Mirren
• Rupert Graves
• 77 User reviews
• 37 Critic reviews
• 89 Metascore
• 16 wins & 19 nominations total

Top cast 56

• Queen Charlotte

• Lady Pembroke
• Royal Children
• Royal Child

• Prince of Wales

• Duke of York

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Many historians believe that George III's mental state was caused by porphyria, a metabolic imbalance that can cause blue urine. However, recent research into his written correspondence suggests bouts of mania, and a common type of medicine at the time could have caused blue urine, leading some to conclude that he had a psychiatric illness.
• Goofs At the end of the film, the Royal Family goes to Saint Paul's Cathedral. A view of the front of the Cathedral shows that the clock in the left-hand tower is missing, but this was as a result of German bombing raids in the early 1940s.

[Pitt has given the King some papers to sign]

George III : What is this? America, I suppose.

Pitt : No, sir.

George III : Oh, America's not to be spoken of, is that it?

Pitt : For your peace of mind, sir. But it's not America.

George III : Peace of mind! I have no peace of mind. I've had no peace of mind since we lost America. Forests, old as the world itself... meadows... plains... strange delicate flowers... immense solitudes... and all nature new to art... all ours... Mine. Gone. A paradise... lost.

• Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Speechless/Dumb and Dumber/Legends of the Fall/Little Women/Death and the Maiden/The Madness of King George (1994)
• Soundtracks Zadok the Priest (uncredited) Music by George Frideric Handel (as G. F. Handel)

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• Runtime 1 hour 50 minutes

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; Going Mad Without Being a Sore Loser

By Janet Maslin

• Dec. 28, 1994

All the world's a stage for King George III, the royally irrepressible ruler who holds sway throughout "The Madness of King George." While there's much to admire in Nicholas Hytner's splendid screen adaptation of Alan Bennett's neo-Shakespearean play ("The Madness of George III"), this exuberant tragicomedy is first and foremost a superb showcase. The monarch is a corker, and he commands almost all the attention.

Grandly played by Nigel Hawthorne, who repeats his stage role with a stunningly mercurial display of wit, pathos and fiery emotion, this wily King is a figure to be reckoned with even when his powers decline. It was under the stormy reign of George III (1760-1810) that England's monarchy lost a substantial degree of its authority to Parliament, while England itself lost the United States (or "the place we mustn't mention," as it's called in the film). As for George himself, he began losing his reason periodically in 1788, when the film takes place, and was deemed quite mad during the last 10 years of his monarchy.

Mr. Bennett's drama finds him at a critical juncture, still in control but well aware of the "catalogue of regal nonconformities" he presents to courtiers and loved ones. For all his comic fireworks, Mr. Hawthorne poignantly captures the King's understanding that his power may be slipping, that he may not be able to halt that process, and that a long list of adversaries eagerly awaits his decline.

The star, the film maker and the playwright find something universal in the ways this embattled man fends off the inevitable, using every behavioral weapon in his arsenal to keep his enemies at bay. In the process, they also enjoy the essential hollowness of keeping up appearances in royal fashion. "Smile at the people," King George exhorts his family, with a puckishness that certainly resonates today. "Wave to them. Let them see that we're happy. That's why we're here."

The early part of the film offers broadly entertaining displays of how this cagey, mocking King uses royal prerogatives to frazzle those around him. There is the music recital he attends, sweeping in to hear "Greensleeves" played on bells and then declaring: "Fascinating stuff, what-what? Let's have it again!" There is the fact that he refuses to let pregnant women be seated during this cultural ordeal, announcing: "If everybody who's having a baby wants to sit down, next thing it'll be everybody with gout."

There are his ways of addressing the Queen sweetly as "Mrs. King," though he is also capable of accusing her of sleeping with their son. There is his sudden decision to rouse his servants for a run at sunrise, announcing: "Six hours' sleep is enough for a man, seven for a woman and eight for a fool!" There is the visit to a barnyard where the King, who regards himself as a farmer, has a nice, companionable chat with a tiny pig.

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The madness of king george.

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Common Sense Media Review

Historical biopic about British king's mental health.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Madness of King George is a historical dramedy based on the real-life events surrounding England's King George III (Nigel Hawthorne), who struggled with mental health. It was originally a successful stage play by Alan Bennett. The king's behavior is erratic and sometimes abusive,…

Why Age 13+?

Attempted stabbing, but victim is unharmed. Characters are choked, shoved, slapp

Kissing. Character kisses someone's chest. Character publicly points out someone

Language includes "fart," "piss," "turd," "damn," "arse," "scabby bumsucker," an

Character sips from a hip flask.

Any Positive Content?

Themes include self-compassion, understanding mental illness, and empathy.

Physician Francis Willis shows compassion in helping the king get back to health

Violence & Scariness

Attempted stabbing, but victim is unharmed. Characters are choked, shoved, slapped. A character spits on another. Close-up of burned skin. A character is chased and restrained multiple times; one time a character gets a bloody nose in the struggle. Soup is spat in someone's face. A character forcibly grabs a woman, kisses her, climbs on top of her.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Kissing. Character kisses someone's chest. Character publicly points out someone's breasts and bottom, causing embarrassment. A character places someone's hand on their breast -- it's then implied they put their hands on their genitals.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "fart," "piss," "turd," "damn," "arse," "scabby bumsucker," and "goddammit."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Physician Francis Willis shows compassion in helping the king get back to health. King George's behavior is erratic and becomes both increasingly violent and sexually aggressive -- this is put down to his mental health. Many of the characters, including King George's own son, plot behind his back.

Parents need to know that The Madness of King George is a historical dramedy based on the real-life events surrounding England's King George III ( Nigel Hawthorne ), who struggled with mental health. It was originally a successful stage play by Alan Bennett . The king's behavior is erratic and sometimes abusive, and he gets increasingly agitated throughout the movie, acting violently and sexually aggressive. This is put down to his diminishing mental health, which may be problematic. A doctor helps him back to health, but the 17th century process includes multiple scenes of violent restraint, which could bother sensitive viewers. Each character is portrayed in an honest light, with their flaws at the forefront. The movie encourages empathy and compassion, both to yourself and others. Mild language includes "piss," "damn," and "arse." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

At the start of THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, King George III ( Nigel Hawthorne ) appears eccentric, but his behavior soon turns genuinely erratic. When it becomes clear that he's suffering from a condition that's causing delusions, members of parliament secretly try to have him removed from the throne while his son attempts to take power. Against the conspirators' wishes, radical physician Francis Willis ( Ian Holm ) treats the king and improves his mental health, instilling in him a better understanding of his condition.

Is It Any Good?

This superb movie is based on an award-winning play by celebrated playwright Alan Bennett , who also wrote the screenplay for this 1994 adaption, directed by Nicholas Hytner . The movie is reportedly historically accurate and honest about the characters, lending it an air of authenticity. The acting is first-class, with heavyweights Hawthorne and Holm's head-to-heads positively crackling. Helen Mirren as Queen Charlotte also gives an emotional performance as a wife who's feeling helpless.

While the dialogue in The Madness of King George is snappy and the movie develops at a good pace, the historical setting and dense, uncompromisingly authentic period language might struggle to engage younger viewers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how mental health is portrayed in The Madness of King George . How was it viewed in the past? Do you think the way we treat and view conditions similar to King George's has improved today?

Do any of the characters treat King George with empathy? Who and why? Why should we show people empathy ?

Do politicians always act in the interests of the people who elected them?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 28, 1994
• On DVD or streaming : June 5, 2001
• Cast : Nigel Hawthorne , Helen Mirren , Rupert Graves
• Director : Nicholas Hytner
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Samuel Goldwyn Company
• Genre : Comedy
• Topics : History
• Character Strengths : Compassion
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : thematic elements
• Last updated : June 20, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Madness of King George Reviews

The film, though English in subject matter, was far from English in style. It was grand, not parochial; crude, not genteel, and very funny.

Full Review | Apr 21, 2022

Hawthorne plays madness with restraint. It's only when he hears the news from Yorktown that he goes really bananas.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 14, 2022

It's sometimes so loopy that one half-expects Mel Brooks to wander into the frame, muttering, "It's good to be the king."

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 19, 2021

Visually sumptuous, energetic and classy, The Madness of King George is British film theatre at its most seductive.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 17, 2016

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Sep 7, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 4, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2007

Hytner's version of Bennett's comic-tragic drama of the tormented king who almost lost his mind confirms that power games, family scandals, and personal intrigues have always been integral to the British Crown, an institution both revered and reviled.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 22, 2006

It's Hawthorne's engaging performance that makes this drama both fun and moving.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 12, 2006

Vastly entertaining, with more bite than you expect from a costume drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 12, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 26, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 3, 2005

Flawless acting. Hawthorne was robbed of an Oscar. Sorry, but it's true.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 21, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 16, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 16, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 8, 2004

So slick, so clever and so incredibly lucid that it neither leads to much in the way of thought, discussion or, unfortunately, repeat viewing.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 23, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 15, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Oct 22, 2003

Respectable actors aside, it's no more than a dryasdust history lesson.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 10, 2003

The Madness Of King George Review

24 Mar 1995

110 minutes

Madness Of King George, The

Legend has it that George III once ordered hundreds of beef steaks to be buried in a field in the belief that, come spring, a nice herd of cows would sprout. Sadly, that piece of British history is absent from The Madness Of King George, but fans of idiot monarchs will find little else to complain about.

At the film's start, however, all is well as the King (Hawthorne) and "Mrs King" (Mirren) rule the country happily enough with only that nasty business of losing that trifling little colony America blotting their regal copybook. Unfortunately, Hawthorne soon begins to act oddly and, after one assault on lady-in-waiting Amanda Donohoe too many, he is effectively shut away for his own good. Having been declared insane - although it would now appear he was suffering from the blood disorder porphyria - he is subsequently prescribed such contemporary "cures" as skin-blistering, stool examination and, once the veritable Dr. Willis (Holm) comes on the scene, brutal restraint. Of course, none of this does much to improve his state of mind, and the perpetually indolent Prince Of Wales (Rupert Everett) is soon demanding to be declared Regent. The remainder of the film traces the attempts of Prime Minister Pitt The Younger (Julian Wadham) to thwart such a plan while Hawthorne painstakingly tries to regroup what is left of his marbles.

With only the occasional whiff of the film's theatrical roots coming through, this is an excellent debut from director Hytner who never lets Alan Bennett's script linger too long in either farce or tragedy. The real treat, though, is Hawthorne who, whether lecturing his family on regal responsibility or taking a dump in front of the PM, gives what is undoubtedly the performance of his career. Anyone, meanwhile, who doubts the relevance of such a tale to contemporary society might take note that porphyria is hereditary.

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The Madness of King George

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

The theory goes that Americans will feel remote from this 1788 crisis in the life of George III — the king who lost the colonies and later his mind — since we’ve never seen one of our leaders go crackers in office. That’s a laugh even Richard Nixon might have appreciated. Comedy and tragedy cohere in this extraordinary film of Alan Bennett’s play. Nicholas Hytner, who directed the stage version of George in England and the United States, makes a potent film debut by setting off royal fireworks on a mere $8 million budget. Hytner’s sly direction can’t disguise the thin background characters engaged in familiar intrigue. But front and center is Nigel Hawthorne, repeating his stage role as the king and riding the film to glory.

The thrill of Hawthorne’s astounding performance is not something you want to miss. Just watch this distinguished actor (a Tony winner for Shadowlands ) dig into the part of a formal monarch and father of 15 who is suddenly shitting his pants, blaring obscenities and running amok like Jim Carrey. Experts say the king suffered from porphyria, a metabolic imbalance whose symptoms resemble madness. Since the court quacks don’t know this, they blister the king’s skin and sniff his stools. His son the prince of Wales (a smarmy-to-the-max Rupert Everett) puts him in an asylum. Queen Charlotte (the splendid Helen Mirren), with the help of Lady Pembroke (Amanda Donohoe), brings in an unorthodox shrink. Dr. Willis, played with steely humor by Ian Holm, looks the king in the eye (a royal no-no), straps him down and ignores his protests. Hawthorne captures the scalding indignity of a proud ruler reduced to a helpless patient, especially when he reads a moving passage from King Lear that triggers his temporary return to sanity. Bennett and Hytner bring this strange interlude to engrossing life, but it is Hawthorne who finds the king’s grieving heart.

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The Madness of King George

Details: 1994, Rest of the world, UK, Cert PG, 107 mins

Direction: Nicholas Hytner

Genre: Drama / Period

Summary: It's the 1780s and King George III's gone mad.His son is waiting to pounce and no doctor in the land can find a cure. Elegant adaption of Alan Bennet's play.

With: Amanda Donohoe ,  Helen Mirren ,  Ian Holm ,  Nigel Hawthorne and Rupert Everett

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Related articles, the madness of king george: the only insanity is nigel hawthorne losing out on the oscar to forrest gump.

The 1994 film of the play by Alan Bennett is a model of historical accuracy and psychological tact. Only an error involving a curate leaves director Nicholas Hytner with egg on his face

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Madness of King George, The (United Kingdom, 1994)

If the score of Immortal Beloved is remarkable, that of The Madness of King George is no less so. With the clear strains of Handel's "Water Music" and "Zadok the Priest" in the background, The Madness of King George ascends to a level that it might never have attained using a modern composer. The musical selections (made by George Fenton) are so perfectly and expertly interwoven into the film that one might easily assume the score had been specifically written for Nicholas Hytner's production.

Opening in 1788, more than five years after England lost her North American colonies, The Madness of King George relates a dark episode in the king's reign. Bothered by increasingly painful abdominal pains, George (Nigel Hawthorne) begins to act irrationally and belligerently. The doctors -- mostly a bunch of jumped-up quacks -- do nothing for him. His eldest son and heir, the Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett) is eager to see his father declared mad so he can take over as regent. Ministers, retainers, and others at court begin to scheme how to get the most out of the king's indisposition. At last, when all appears lost, Prime Minister Pitt (Julian Wadham), aided by Queen Charlotte (Helen Mirren); her Mistress of the Robes, Lady Pembroke (Amanda Donohoe); and Greville (Rupert Graves), one of the king's aides; sends for Dr. Willis (Ian Holm), a doctor of the mind with a reputation for curing dementia.

The Madness of King George is much more than a simple study of one man's descent into insanity. With a style that's more tongue-in-cheek than melodramatic, the film is always witty and occasionally satirical. The characterizations are flawless (as well as historically accurate), and the political wrangling of the Tories and Whigs (led by PM Pitt and Charles Fox, respectively) provide a deliciously complex backdrop.

Medical historians are generally agreed that the cause of George's madness was something called porphyria, an acute, intermittent, hereditary disease that is physical (rather than mental) in nature. The king's symptoms, including blue urine and gastric crises, match those of porphyria, although some have postulated that there may have been a secondary affliction, such as manic-depression, involved. Whatever the case, as this film illustrates, it's clear that there were times when George was unfit to rule.

Anyone who dislikes being poked by and prodded at by doctors will find some amusement in the petty disagreements within the small corps of physicians attending the king. One insists that blistering the skin is the only way to extract the bad humours that cause the madness. Another constantly takes the king's pulse. A third advocates examining the royal chamberpots -- the stool being "more eloquent than the pulse." Only Dr. Willis, with his hypnotic gaze, gives the impression of competence.

Without exception, the acting is top-notch. The four principles -- Hawthorne, Mirren, Holm, and Everett -- do fine jobs. Hawthorne's performance is especially noteworthy, allowing us to understand, and occasionally even sympathize, with a decidedly arrogant and dislikable personality. The supporting players, which include such recognizable faces as Amanda Donohoe and Jim Carter (as Charles Fox), are of equal quality.

Despite allusions to "King Lear", this movie's strength is in its story breadth, not its depth. A lot happens here, but few of the themes take root beyond their surface meaning. Adapted from the play "The Madness of George III", the film trims copious portions of dialogue, leaving behind a tightly-paced picture that has the feel of something created for the screen rather than for the stage. Certain subplots are watered down or eliminated, but what survives is more than enough to keep King George a source of solid entertainment.

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The Madness of King George

Time out says, release details.

• Duration: 110 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Nicholas Hytner
• Screenwriter: Alan Bennett
• Nigel Hawthorne
• Helen Mirren
• Amanda Donohoe
• Rupert Everett
• Rupert Graves
• Julian Wadham
• Geoffrey Palmer
• Alan Bennett

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"We waste our money so you don't have to."

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Movie Review

The madness of king george.

US Release Date: 12-28-1994

Directed by: Nicholas Hytner

Starring ▸ ▾

• Nigel Hawthorne ,  as
• King George III
• Helen Mirren ,  as
• Queen Charlotte
• Ian Holm ,  as
• Amanda Donohoe ,  as
• Lady Pembroke
• Rupert Graves ,  as
• Geoffrey Palmer ,  as
• Rupert Everett ,  as
• George IV, the Prince of Wales
• Jim Carter ,  as
• Charles James Fox
• Julian Rhind-Tutt ,  as
• Frederick, the Duke of York
• Julian Wadham ,  as
• Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger
• Anthony Calf ,  as
• John Wood ,  as
• Thurlow, Lord Chancellor
• Jeremy Child ,  as
• Caroline Harker ,  as
• Mrs. Fitzherbert
• Roger Hammond ,  as
• Cyril Shaps as

Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren in The Madness of King George .

The Madness of King George is a dark comedy, adapted by Alan Bennett from his hit play The Madness of George III . The reason for the title change is that outside of England, George III is not universally known as a king, and also perhaps because they feared American audiences might mistake this movie for a sequel. This is the story of King George III's mental health issues and the archaic medical procedures he endured. It is set around the historical backdrop of the Regency Crisis of 1788 during which the King's son, George IV - also known as the Prince of Wales, plotted to have himself declared Regent in his father's stead.

Still reeling from the loss of the colonies during the American Revolution, King George III begins having bouts of mental distress. He becomes violent and prone to vulgar outbursts, “Push off, you fat turd.” He also experiences periods of forgetfulness. His doctors attempt various painful remedies including blistering and purges. One of them obsessively studies the king's stools and urine (which has a blue tint) for any signs or symptoms. “One may produce a copious, regular evacuation every day of the week and still be a stranger to reason.” As it turns out this guy was on to something, modern medicine now suggests that George III suffered from a metabolic imbalance caused by porphyria, that also happens to turn urine a shade of blue.

As the King's mental condition continues to deteriorate, his political enemies hatch plans to supplant him. A different doctor shows up with newfangled ideas using elements of psychoanalysis. The King is put in restraints and is made to follow a strict routine. In one great sequence the King is strapped down to a chair but it's shot as if it's his coronation ceremony. Handel's “Zartok the Priest” underscores the scene and the musical climax comes just as the king's head is placed in a leather strap, thus representing his crown.

The cast, led by the glorious Nigel Hawthorne, is universally terrific. Helen Mirren, once again playing royalty, is underused but still memorable as Queen Charlotte. Rupert Everett (in a fat suit) plays the indolent and gluttonous Prince of Wales. Ian Holm plays Doctor Willis, the physician with modern ideas who matches wills with the King. Rupert Graves has a few good scenes as one of the King's most trusted attendants and Jim Carter of Downton Abbey fame plays Charles James Fox, leader of the opposition. But it is Hawthorne who carries the entire movie. He is a delight from start to finish as the mentally unstable monarch. It's a juicy role and he relishes every outburst and over-the-top moment.

The Madness of King George is beautiful to look at. Shot at many famous historical locations around England, it vividly recreates its time period and won the Oscar for Best Art Direction. It was also nominated for Actor (Hawthorne), Supporting Actress (Mirren) and Adapted Screenplay. In 1999 it was ranked at #42 on the BFI's list of the 100 Best British Films of the 20th Century.

Rupert Everett and Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George

The Madness of King George tells the sad tale of a man suffering from an illness that could not be accurately diagnosed or treated properly and efficiently at the time. As he is the leader of a country, many people are concerned for his wellbeing and his mental state. Some are personally invested, such as the Queen and Robert Fulke Greville, whose personal diary was the primary source for the play, The Madness of George III.

The King's suffering and how it affects those he loves is tragic as no one knows exactly what to do to help. Hawthorne breaks your heart as he shows just how frustrated the king was wrestling with emotions and thoughts he had so little control over. At one point he wakes up his servants, “Six hours of sleep is enough for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fool.” He then runs outside, pursued by the servants, still dressed in night wear, who are clueless of what is wrong or how to help. At another point he carries a child to the castle roof with the Queen in pursuit, fearing what his intentions are.

Had George been a mere British subject, he would have been dismissed as simply insane and likely locked away. When the doctor has him strapped in a chair, George bellows, “I am the King of England!” The doctor stands his ground, “No sir! You are the patient.” Although much is invested in his recovery, some are not so excited to see it through.

The King’s son, George IV, the Prince of Wales, is such a lazy and unlikable person that we wonder how much he truly wants to see his father recover. If George III dies or is considered incompetent, George IV could become King but that is an awful lot of work for such a sloth. Rupert Everett is hilariously horrible when the Queen, upset by having the King taken away from her, storms in and tells him that he should support the King as she has, doing such things as giving birth to his fifteen children. George IV, thinking he is being witty, smirks and responds, “Then you should be grateful for giving you breathing space…No, “breeding” space.” Everett then lets out the worst laugh I have heard in a long time.

There are some light moments such as when Greville gets seduced in the hall and when George and his servants play like children throughout the mansion. Of course, there are also the many running jokes, intentional or not, about the King's urine and excrement. This is however, a historical costumed drama and as such may not appeal to everyone. Some of the wigs alone are worth a smile, and how many of us can truly relate to people of such positions. If you like Merchant and Ivory films you are probably this film’s target audience.

The cast is very solid and the production value is impeccable. Patrick mentioned the many recognizable names in the cast and it certainly helps to be an anglophile to enjoy The Madness of King George . I also agree with my brother that it is Hawthorne’s performance that carries the entire movie. He plays the gamut of emotions and is never anything less than perfect.

The name change and the reason for it Patrick referred to from The Madness of George III to The Madness of King George has become something of an urban myth and an inside Hollywood joke that supposedly pokes fun at the idea that audiences, and Americans in particular, would have mistaken the original title as meaning that this was the third film in the The Madness of George series. However, it's something the producers have denied and indeed the name was changed universally, including inside the United Kingdom where presumably they would know better. Their stated reason is closer to what Patrick said, which is that they wanted to make it plain to audiences that this was about a King and not just a plain old George from a family without much imagination when it came to naming their sons.

Shakespeare is referenced several times during the film, including a topic appropriate reading of King Lear in one scene. It brought to mind another Shakespeare quote, but from Hamlet , "Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go." As Eric wrote, if George were just another George, he'd have been locked up somewhere or sent, if very lucky, to Dr. Willis's farm. As inhumane and archaic his treatment seems at times, compared to what any of his subjects would have been subjected to, it is the finest care then available. Although the film refers to porphyria as the cause of the King's madness, more modern theories tend to dismiss this idea. A 2013 study by St. George's University of London posited, after studying thousands of the King's personal letters, that the cause was indeed mental rather than the result of a disease, and concluded that were he diagnosed today, he would probably be deemed a manic-depressive. Their research also revealed that the King was given medicine derived from the plant gentian, one of the side effects of which is turning the patient's urine blue. Although the causes of his madness will probably continue to be debated by scholars.

As Patrick said, Hawthorne carries this movie and he carries it brilliantly. He brings such humanity to the part that you can not help but feel for his plight. You never lose sight of the man behind the madness as he often times struggles to maintain control over himself. He moves between arrogant monarch to cowed child, often in the same scene. He more than earned his Academy Award nomination. The rest of the cast (filled with a who's who of British character actors as my brothers wrote) all do good work, but this is in reality a one man show and Hawthorne is nothing short of perfection.

There are several running jokes, which are clearly intentional, but I would stop short of calling it a comedy. A tragedy with jokes is how I would describe it. Bennett wisely slips in a few laughs when the tone becomes too dark and depressing. He also ends the story on a positive note with the King seemingly recovered. The truth is that the king was plagued by such episodes for the rest of his life until eventually he was forced to hand over power to his son in 1810.

With its high production values, this is historical spectacle on a grand scale. There's definitely plenty for an Anglophile or lover of Masterpiece Theater to enjoy.

Photos © Copyright The Samuel Goldwyn Company (1994)

© 2000 - 2017 Three Movie Buffs. All Rights Reserved.

THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE

More Detail:

In 1788, King George III of England (The King George of the American Revolution!) endured a six-month bout with insanity which very nearly cost him his throne. THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE is a film adaptation of the play about this strange interlude. When a sudden illness causes a marked change in King George’s behavior, it is decided that he must be kept out of sight. The action of the film alternates between the irrational ramblings of the deranged and suffering monarch, and the battle in Parliament over whether to wait for his recovery or appoint the Prince of Wales regent in his stead. The drama culminates in a race against time as the suddenly recovered king tries to head off the appointment of his son to the power of the throne.

THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE contains ample drama due to the political intrigue of the impending succession of the prince. Also, there are numerous minor conflicts involving the touching and positive relationship between the king and the queen, the struggle between the doctor and his incorrigible patient, and the covert maneuvers of members of parliament to retain, or attain, power. Potential offenses are very mild: typical is a scene where it is implied that the king has soiled his pants. On a technical level, the cast is excellent, and so are the directing and camera work.

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• Cast & Crew

The Madness of King George

• 89   Metascore
• 1 hr 50 mins
• Drama, Comedy

In this fascinating historical drama set in 1788, England's King George III undergoes psychotherapeutic treatment after he begins to display signs of eccentric and disturbing behavior.

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1:42 Madness Of King George

• 1996 - BAFTA Film Awards - Best Costume Design - nominated
• 1996 - BAFTA Film Awards - The Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music - nominated
• 1996 - BAFTA Film Awards - Best Make Up & Hair - winner
• 1996 - BAFTA Film Awards - The Alexander Korda Award for the Outstanding British Film of the Year - winner

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Nigel Hawthorne

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Helen Mirren

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Lightweight, lighthearted and utterly disposable, but a fun frolic reminding you that Clooney and Pitt still ooze major star appeal.

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Wolfs had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. Here's our review... 

"You fix things, right?" Yep, that is exactly what Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s unnamed characters do for a living in Jon Watts’ cucumber-cool crime caper. These two 'cleaners' mop up other people’s sticky situations, but never the twain shall meet. Until, that is, both are called independently to take care of an increasingly complex job that begins in a New York hotel penthouse suite. There, Clooney arrives to find Amy Ryan’s DA Margaret in a distraught state: a twenty-something male is dead in the bedroom after slipping and falling. "He’s not a prostitute," she keeps saying, though no one believes her. 

Before long, in walks Pitt’s character, also wearing blue disposable gloves and an air of smarm. He’s been hired by the hotel owner to brush this potential scandal under the carpet. And so, Pitt and Clooney are suddenly forced to work together. "I’m going to supervise," says Pitt, as he watches his rival start to move the body. Except that he too is sucked in when he discovers kilos of drugs in the room. Oh, and the 'Kid', as he’s credited, is not dead. Played by Austin Abrams (Euphoria), this chattering student is the innocent patsy in a deadly situation. 

Who is setting whom up? That’s the big question, albeit one that doesn’t prove interesting enough to be the film’s driving force. Watts seems far more intrigued by reuniting Clooney and Pitt, very much riffing on their Ocean’s Eleven charisma, as they bicker their way through the film like a married couple. Some moments work very well - notably one sequence on a subway train that suggests there is a little love between these two warhorses. Meanwhile, a safari-themed, cockroach-riddled motel room where they briefly hole up is guaranteed to raise smiles. 

There’s a sense Wolfs wants to be a latter-day Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, yet it never quite earns the poignancy of that Newman/Redford classic. But Watts - best known for the Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy - is a dab hand at action scenes, like the crazed chase through New York that ensues when the near-naked Kid wakes up and tries to make a run for it. Despite an amusing cameo from Zlatko Burić ( Triangle of Sadness ) as a major-league gangster celebrating his daughter’s nuptials, the finale descends into a generic shoot-out, with bullets sprayed hither and yon. But for those looking for an easy-on-the-eye, brain-in-neutral-thriller, Wolfs still hits the spot.

Wolfs is available to stream via Apple TV Plus on September 27. 

Stay up to date with the latest releases with our guide to the upcoming movies of 2024.

James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on GamesRadar+ and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood. 

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‘Wolfs’: George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s New Movie Is Shockingly Bad

“Wolfs” was a Venice Film Festival disappointment. It turns out that star power is not enough when those stars are auto-piloting their way through their new movie.

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Courtesy of Venice Film Festival

VENICE, Italy—District Attorney Margaret (Amy Ryan) is in big trouble. On an impulse, she invited a younger man back to her hotel room—and it was going well…until he collapsed on the floor and died. What was supposed to be a fun night of debauchery and stress relief turned into something awful. She’s terrified and covered in blood. Being discovered in this state would be disastrous for her career. There’s only one person Margaret can call: a Wolf.

They work alone, and only alone. Wolfs are fixers—they do the work that nobody else is willing to do, and they do it discreetly. Wind up with a dead guy in your hotel room? A Wolf is who you call to make sure that guy not only is no longer in your room, but that there’s no trace that that person ever was anywhere near you at all. These are the people who work in the underbelly of society, leaving no trace. They have names, and they may even have families. But you’ll never learn anything about them. “There’s nobody who can do what I do,” George Clooney ’s character tells Margaret.

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Wolfs , which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival , is an unbearable comedy with jokes all surrounding a single theme: These guys don’t want to work together. Driving along with Clooney and Pitt in Wolfs captures all the thrilling fun of your kids shouting “Are we there yet?” ad infinitum. It repeats the same joke over and over (and over again). And just when you think Wolfs might be interested in moving onto fresh new material, it attempts the same punchline again, in its 400th variation.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt arriving at the Venice Film Festival

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Wolfs should go down like gangbusters. Clooney and Pitt are two of the biggest movie stars in the world, and writer-director Jon Watts is behind the hugely successful and critically admired MCU Spider-Man trilogy. But Wolfs is an idea without any follow-through—it’s like someone pitched a compelling tagline in a meeting and forgot to fill it out with any actual ideas after the fact. It’s big-budget filmmaking at its most vacant. Clooney and Pitt are gifted actors, and they’ve had great success working together in movies like Burn After Reading and the Oceans trilogy. But they’re both delivering auto-piloted performances here, moving their mouths and churning out exhausting dialogue because they’re being paid a lot of money to do so (more than $35 million apiece according to The New York Times ).

They’re both lifeless and their characters lack any interiority. The joke is that they’re annoyed with each other and are convinced that they work completely differently, when the reality is that they’re extremely similar. This renders both their characters identical—if they swapped all their dialogue, it would make no difference whatsoever. Austin Abrams is the only major player to walk away unscathed from Wolfs , delivering a charming and genuinely funny performance as a man who unexpectedly finds himself assisting the fixers.

I can only assume Wolfs made it into the Venice lineup because the star power was enough to get it here. But Wolfs provides ample evidence that celebrity wattage is not nearly enough, especially when neither star seems particularly invested in being on screen. This is a movie in desperate need of another dimension. Its set pieces are uninspired and lifeless, and the script grinds to a halt every time you think things are about to gain momentum. If you’re still curious about Wolfs , just watch the trailer —it has every “highlight” of the movie in a few digestible minutes.

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‘Wolfs’ Review: Name a More Iconic Duo Than George Clooney and Brad Pitt in a Comic Thriller with Class

Ryan lattanzio, deputy editor, film.

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A sequel is already in the works to writer/director Watts’ irresistibly pleasurable studio comedy, and you can see why. Even if “Wolfs” is a light affair in the end, it’s a low-key, restrained good time, confidently told with two charismatic leading turns that are nearly even upstaged by Abrams. “Wolfs” is merely a diverting entertainment — and it’s really a shame Apple is only putting it in theaters for one week, because this Clooney-Pitt caper would do enough business to merit even longer — not an Oscar movie, not an overly serious movie for adults. But it’s a smart one for grown-ups, even in its most blandly reassuring moments where “Wolfs” is riding high only on the chemistry of the leads, the strengths of whose performances are reminders of what they’ve always been great at — and make look easy.

Plus, the kid isn’t dead either, as his flailing pale self that looks on the verge of the cadaverous pops out of the trunk Jack shoves him in. So a trio is formed, and with the goal to return the heroin to whom it belongs. As the kid says in a looping, breathless rant Abrams delivers with shrewd comic timing, he took on moving the drugs for the thrill of the story. Nick and Jack end up chasing the kid, clad in whitey-tighties only, up and down the Lower East Side in another scene that stirs up memories of “After Hours.” Abrams himself could even be a successor to a young Griffin Dunne, though his character here is more than a bit more thick-headed.

“Wolfs” world premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival . It will premiere in theaters for one week starting September 20 before streaming on Apple TV+ September 27.

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‘Wolfs’ Review: George Clooney and Brad Pitt Are Rival Fixers in a Winning Action Comedy Spiked With Movie-Star Chemistry

The two actors go at each other in Jon Watts's likable throwaway caper, which plays like an exercise in movie-star nostalgia.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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The movie-stars-are-over era has been overstated. If audiences are now drawn to movies not for stars but for franchise concepts, I’m not sure how to fit the career of Timothée Chalamet into that; Emma Stone and Zendaya would also like a word. That said, when you watch George Clooney and Brad Pitt in “ Wolfs ,” a clever, airy, winningly light-fingered and debonair action comedy about two rival fixers who have to learn to work together, you’d be forgiven for describing the sensation you feel as movie-star nostalgia.

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“Wolfs” opens in a deluxe penthouse hotel suite in New York, where Margaret (Amy Ryan), a district attorney, is in a distraught panic. There’s a young man, seemingly dead, lying next to the bed in his underwear, with smashed glass all around him. What happened? She picked him up in the hotel bar, they came to the room, and he was jumping up and down on the bed when he accidentally fell and smashed through a glass table. File it under “shit happens.” To avoid a big mess, Margaret calls a number she has had in her contacts but has never used. It’s the number of a fixer, played by Clooney, who immediately starts telling her what to do on the phone, exuding the dry authority of … Michael Clayton.

Neither of the two men is ever named. Clooney’s character, referred to in the credits simply as “Margaret’s man,” is a figure of Swiss-watch precision and time-tested methods, all driven by the conviction that no one else can do what he does. But the arrival of Pitt, known only as “Pam’s man,” throws a monkey wrench into that. Clooney looks at Pitt as if he were a pretender, a mere amateur in the fixer game, but, in fact, both are experts at … well, fixing.

The spark plug of “Wolfs,” as written and directed by Jon Watts (who directed all three of the Tom Holland “Spider-Man” films), is the nonstop stream of hostility and one-upmanship that passes between Clooney and Pitt like something out of an acid screwball comedy. It’s not just that the two characters don’t like each other. Each is invested in his own superiority — the special finesse of his skills. And so their back-and-forth isn’t just about the putdowns. It’s a kind of lethal contest to see who has the most fixer zen.

Clooney and Pitt had this kind of chemistry before, in “Ocean’s Eleven,” where it was in the very detachment of their banter that they found a bond. In “Wolfs,” Clooney and Pitt revel in the crack timing, in the I-truly-do-not-like-you obscene banter, that makes even the most casual insult take wing. As the movie goes on, these two will learn to work together, but the film’s anti-grammatical title is saying that each one is a lone wolf. They have no desire to mesh like wolves . The joke, of course, is that from their stylish leather jackets to their secret Mr. Big to their reading glasses, they’re kind of the same man.

Clooney’s character knows a trick or two about how to hoist a body onto a hotel cart, and for a while, as the two take the elevator down to the parking garage, where they stow the body in the trunk of Clooney’s car, the movie is all gambits and procedure, sort of like an improvised “Ocean’s Duet.” But it pivots and turns into a different sort of movie (I feel compelled to issue a spoiler alert, though this happens fairly early on) after the corpse…refuses to lie still.

“Wolfs” turns into one of those buddy movies with a flaked-out wild card of a third wheel. Austin Abrams, from “Euphoria” and “The Walking Dead,” plays the aforementioned dude in his underwear, known only as “kid.” He turns out to be a likably jabbering space case, like Timothée Chalamet infused with the spirit of the young Sam Rockwell. (At one point he has to wear a dress as a shirt, which is very Chalamet.) The key complication is that the kid was carrying four bricks of heroin in his backpack worth $250,000. How did he get them? He was doing a friend a favor, but the bottom line is that the fixers need to find out where those drug parcels came from and return them.

Coming out of the first showing of “Wolfs” at the Venice Film Festival, a friend asked me if I tend to take a movie like this one, which will probably be streamed on Apple much more than it will be seen in movie theaters, and rate it on a made-for-streaming curve. The answer is no, though it’s a good question, and you certainly could rate it both ways. Next to the vast majority of made-for-streaming fodder, “Wolfs” looks the essence of a classy, witty, stylish entertainment. It looks downright old-fashioned (in a good way). But as a movie , which will indeed play in theaters, it is, in the end, a well-made throwaway, no more and no less. The buddy movie is always, on some level, a platonic love story, but in this case by the time Clooney and Pitt locate their bond, they’ve come close to erasing the premise of the movie: that the key to a fixer is that he can’t afford to have a heart. These two never lose their cool, but by the end you feel like they’ve put on sheep’s clothing.

Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Out of competition), Sept. 1, 2024. MPA rating: R. Running time: 108 MIN.

• Production: A Columbia Pictures, Apple release of an Apple Original Films, Plan B, Freshman Year, Smokehouse Pictures production. Producers: Jon Watts, Dianne McGunigle, Grant Heslov, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner. Executive producer: Michael Beugg.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Jon Watts. Camera: Larkin Seiple. Editor: Andrew Weisblum. Music: Theodore Shapiro.
• With: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Pooma Jagannathan, Richard Kind, Zlatko Burić.

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