The Trial of Tony Blair (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Simon Cellan Jones

Writer:

Alastair Beaton (writer)

Release Date:

15 January 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Fictional Biography | War Crimes Trial | Nightmare | Arrest | Satire

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Robert Lindsay	...	Tony Blair
Robert Bowman	...	Priest
Adrian Scarborough	...	Simon
Claire Skinner	...	Nicky
Danielle Ryan	...	Assistant
Ronke Phillips	...	Newsreader
Phoebe Nicholls	...	Cherie Blair
Dickon Tyrrell	...	First Removal Man
Nick Bartlett	...	Third Removal Man
Graham Turner	...	Brian Haw
Kyl Messios	...	Taxi Driver 1
Peter Mullan	...	Gordon Brown
Mark Bonnar	...	Tommy
Alexander Armstrong	...	David Cameron
Sophie Winkleman	...	Fiona

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Daybreak Pictures

Quotes:

[Discussing Blair's autobiography]
Publisher: You 'feel the hand of God on your shoulder' no less than 29 times!
Tony Blair: Oh yes...
[He laughs]
Tony Blair: ...it was a bit more than that, actually.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "This Week: (2007-01-18)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

I Hung My Head

Unintelligent and easy attack on Blair that may appeal to some liberals but even then isn't any good

It has been quite a few years since we first expected Blair to go but in 2009/10 he eventually makes the announcement to step aside for Gordon Brown (albeit after a war in Iran and another wave of suicide attacks on London). Deeply worried about his legacy, Blair and his people put a brave face on it and spin for all they are worth but whether it is the protesters, the political isolation or just his own conscience he cannot shake the feeling that the hundreds of thousands of deaths in and associated with Iraq will be all he ever is remembered for. When the UN launches a tribunal into Iraq, PM Brown refuses to veto it and the motion passes – leaving Blair facing prosecution for his decisions in Government.

After several other comedy dramas that gleefully attack the Labour government, this film suggested that it would be nothing more than a liberal fantasy that hits lots of easy targets and forces down Blair down that will always be fictional even if a lot of people seem to wish that it would come true. Sadly this is just what this lazy drama is – and I write this as someone who would gladly see the Blair/Bush actions thrown open to intense public scrutiny with a legal standing behind it. However that does not mean that I chuckled and rubbed my hands with glee as was clearly the hope of the makers of this; and the reason I didn't was down in a big way to the fact that the film never avoids an easy target and rarely backs it up with intelligent material. So we have him heading to trial (we don't see it because we all "know" the outcome), waiting for hours in casualty, having his DNA taken by compulsory order that he introduced and so on – it is so easy and relentless that it is like watching a puppy be kicked at times.

The cast all mug along to this easy beat. Lindsay gives a so-so impression but is an easy mess of nerves and guilt – would be nice to believe it is true but he doesn't ever convince. Nicholls is a shrieking caricature as Booth, while Mullan's Brown and Armstrong's Cameron are just more of the same on a smaller scale. The film does really belong to Lindsay but the material is what lets him down and leaves him doing what I feared he would.

A rather lazy drama then that is like hanging the man on a meat hook and just pummelling him relentlessly while he is defenceless. There is no intelligence or insight here just the hope that the sight of Blair getting "what's coming to him" is enough to draw a big crowd. It drew me this way but it severely disappointed me with all the things it failed to do.