Politics and race can get sticky when mixed, and when love is added to the mix, watch out. We usually do not talk about real personal issues on The Clubhouse Podcast, but I am going to make an exception here because the film I am about to review truly hits home, which should become apparent fairly quickly.
“A United Kingdom” is based on actual events and is directed by Amma Asante (Belle, A Way of Life). Starring David Oyelowo (Selma, Nightingale), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Jack Reacher), Jack Davenport (The Tank, Americana), and Tom Felton (Risen, In Secret), it is the story of the Prince Seretse Khama (Oyelowo) who is in London at college to prepare him to take his place on the throne for what is now known as Botswana. While in London, he falls in love with and ends up marrying a white woman named Ruth Williams (Pike), which is tough enough to deal with in London, but when he takes her back to his homeland (also heavily influenced by Great Britain), they realize that their problems are just beginning.
Asante and the crow here do a great job keeping the look historically correct both for London and Africa. When it comes to the acting, there are no complaints, with Oyelowo and Pike doing an incredible job with good chemistry. The rest of the cast did very well also.
However, the film is almost two hours long and felt every minute of it. It shows the struggle of dealing with the interracial marriage when it was taboo at the time and dealing with international politics very well without getting too preachy with a good mix of personal and political events. Overall the film was good and I do recommend it as a matinee in the theaters.