Amazon.com video review:
In this 12th-century version of Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?, Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) and his wife, Eleanor of
Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), meet on Christmas Eve to discuss the
future of the throne. These two are having slight marital problems, as
she is kept in captivity most of the year for raising a rebellion
against him, and he flaunts his young mistress. Then there are the
problems raised by their three treacherous and traitorous sons.
James Goldman won an Oscar® for the brilliant screenplay, based on his
Broadway play. It is a tad wordy, as the action is kept to a minimum,
but those words are sharp as daggers. The humor is wicked and black and
delivered with very dry, dead-on precision. Sparks fly and the screen sizzles whenever Hepburn and O'Toole tango,
which is often. Both were nominated for Academy Awards® for their
vigorous performances. (She won; he didn't.) There's also an infamous
homo-erotic exchange between Philip of France (Timothy
Dalton) and Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins). Both actors were
making their feature-film debuts. --Rochelle O'Gorman
