This BBC production tells the story of Prince John, the learning disabled and epileptic younger son of George V and Mary of England. The film tries to contrast his very sheltered life with the immense events that surrounded him and his family (especially World War I). Unfortunately, because Johnnie is so removed from all of this, we end up dipping in and out of his life versus his family’s life/political events — so that we see everyone freaking out about how the British are about to lose WWI, and then suddenly Johnnie’s hanging out in a field with his older brother who mentions that the war is now over. All this skipping around made me feel totally uninvested in the story. Also, some of the characterizations were weird, especially Queen Alexandra, who by this time was very very deaf, but in the movie seems to be interacting with everyone just fine. Nice Edwardian costumes but nothing to write home about. Worth a TV watch/rental but don’t buy it.
