Victoria and Abdul (2017) * * *

Directed by:  Stephen Frears

Starring:  Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Michael Gambon, Olivia Williams, Simon Callow

You think you may have seen this movie before.   Queen Victoria, played by Judi Dench, befriends a commoner despite the rabid objections of her scheming family and closest advisers.    She did so in Mrs. Brown (1997) and does so again in Victoria and Abdul.    In Mrs. Brown, Queen Victoria befriends a stable hand who dares to speak frankly to her.    In Victoria and Abdul, she befriends a humble Muslim man from India who teaches her about a land she rules but doesn't understand.    

We meet Queen Victoria late in life and in the twilight of her then-longest rule ever by a British monarch.    She is bored and tired, falling asleep at dinner and perfunctorily performing social duties such as meeting with her prime minister and other heads of state.    Abdul (Fazal) is taken by boat to England to present her majesty with a tapestry from the subcontinent.    Abdul is supposed to simply present the gift and move along, but he smiles at her and for the first time in a long time, the queen is intrigued.    She takes a liking to him, and is avid to learn about his culture and his home country.   

He introduces her to a mango, which is as foreign to her as his language.    Soon, Abdul is made her most trusted adviser, which doesn't sit well with her twit son Bertie (Izzard) and her pathetic inner circle which does nothing more than try to position themselves politically. 

Bertie is cruel to Abdul, even going so far as to drop any pretense of civility.    But Abdul remains loyal to the queen, even at his own peril.    The queen knows she can only do so much to protect him and keep the wolves away from the door, and he serves her until her death.    Victoria and Abdul is about how a common man's friendship awakens Queen Victoria for a brief time.    When she thought she had seen it all, Abdul shows her she hasn't seen enough.    There isn't a possibility of romance, since Abdul reveals he is married and Queen Victoria is simply too old to indulge in such a thing.   

But, when Abdul does declare after many months that he is indeed married, Queen Victoria is disappointed, maybe even jealous.    "This changes everything," she says.    What does she mean?

There are vibes.

If not for the discovery of Abdul's journals chronicling his little-known friendship with Queen Victoria, this story may not have told at all onscreen.    It is a delight to see Judi Dench tackle the role which earned her the first of many Oscar nominations to come, and Fazal plays Abdul with intelligence and grace.    He could be royalty himself if he weren't born a commoner, and if there is a moral to this story, it is that the difference between being common and royalty is luck.   Besides that,

aren't we all pretty similar?    Victoria and Abdul may seem redundant, with much of the same ground already covered in Mrs. Brown, but seeing Dame Dench play Queen Victoria once more is a treat enough to make the movie worthwhile.