Movies in Review: "Mary Queen of Scots"

Period pieces are a hit or miss for me. I'm not particularly drawn to this movie genre; however, it was definitely the two female leads that had my interest in this film. I love Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan's work, and I'm drawn to films with strong female leads. The historically story looked interesting enough for me to give this film a go. With a cast this strong, I did not feel I would leave the theater disappointed, although the 2hr running time did have me a little apprehensive...lol.

The movie did run a bit longer than it actually needed too, causing the story to drag a bit. The thing about period pieces is that there are always so many characters involved in the story I often find myself confused or lost...or bored...lol. I can't say I was bored with this film as the performances from both Robbie and Ronan kept me drawn to the story. Not to mention the make-up, hair and costumes which were phenomenal. Can we give a serious round of applause for the hair in this film? Each style had me in awe, and I loved the red color for both Ronan and Robbie's characters. The story was decent, it was interesting to see what the position of these 2 powerful women did to the men around them. The narrative of men trying to take down powerful women is still relevant today. It was jarring to see them plotting behind the scenes to pull 2 women they knew were stronger together trying to keep them apart. Ronan and Robbie felt like the only women in the movie surrounded by a bunch of self-indulgent men...Ugh!

I enjoyed this movie. The costumes, hair and make-up were more exciting for me than anything else. I did enjoy the performances of Robbie and Ronan who make this film well worth seeing. This is a period piece whose story did grab my interest and had me researching it after leaving the theater. That says a lot...B+