"The Queen" is, in one sense, a film like so many others these days, trading in the currency of celebrity, using the hook of quality actors doing fine impersonations of famous people to show its pedigree. This is a successful and award-winning proposition for films -- see "Ray," "Capote," et al. -- but one that's starting to feel a bit over-used.
"The Queen," however, does what so many others fail to do: it aspires to relevancy. This film is not in the least bit afraid to dig into recent (and controversial) history; when Princess Diana was killed in an auto accident and the monarchy was rocked by a public backlash. "The Queen" explores the tension inherent in the curious existence of a feudal monarchy within a modern democracy.
Filmmaker Stephen Frears ("Dirty Pretty Things," "High Fidelity") and screenwriter Peter Morgan ("The Last King Of Scotland") scrupulously avoid taking a side in the royalist vs. republican debate, while also generously giving time to all views, whether it's Prince Philip wishing he could set the hounds on the press, or Cherie Blair, pointedly reminding her prime minister husband before an audience with the queen that he, not she, has been elected by the entire nation.