Synopsis
After her experiences in Nazi Germany, actress Macarena Granada traveled to Hollywood, where she became a star. In the 1950s, the diva returns to Francoist Spain to star a Hollywood blockbuster about Queen Isabella I of Castile. (A sequel to The Girl of Your Dreams, 1998.)
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Cast
- Penélope CruzMacarena Granada
- Antonio ResinesBlas Fontiveros
- Neus AsensiLucía Gandía
- Cary ElwesGary Jones
- Mandy PatinkinJordan Berman
- Javier CámaraPepe Bonilla
- Clive RevillJohn Scott
- Santiago SeguraCastillo
- Ana BelénAna
- Loles LeónTrini Morenos
Recommendations
- 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
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. - 70
The New York Times
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. - 60
The Guardian
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. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Had the comedy been sharper, this movie-loving movie might have convincingly meshed its Technicolor caricatures and antifascist heroics. - 40
Screen Daily
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. - 40
Variety
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
Village Voice
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. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
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.
