Proper English Drama...Mamet Style

by Jason R. Hewlett

English dramas can be a dry thing. Very proper and polite and void of humor or energy. In other words they can be very, very boring. However, unleash a master of wit and word like David Mamet on the subject matter and you've got something special.

Mamet, for the uninitiated, is one of the most distinguished playwrights, novelists, screenwriters, and directors alive today. He's responsible for such films as "Wag the Dog," "The Edge," "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Oleanna," "The Spanish Patient," and so many more works than I can recite here. He's known for pushing the envelope and infecting his characters with much realism and dry wit. His works can be hard hitting and exceptionally funny at the same time. He brings much of his trademark technique to "The Winslow Boy," which results in an intriguing two hours of cinema.

The story takes place in 1911 London and follows the events involving young Ronnie Winslow (Guy Edwards), the youngest child in a prominent English family, being expelled from a naval academy for a crime he didn't commit. The family, headed by Arthur Winslow (the great Nigel Hawthorne) rallies around young Ronnie and enlists the aid of an emotionless hotshot lawyer (Jeremy Northam) to clear his good name. There is also a subplot involving the eldest Winslow daughter Catherine (Mamet's real life wife Rebecca Pidgeon) and her engagement to a young navel officer which complicates the case to clear the boy.

The basic premise is really just an excuse for Mamet to take a look at English society at the turn of the century which, in turn, allows him to poke brilliant satirical fun at it. The characters are so proper and so dry that one can't help but find amusement at their behavior sometimes. This isn't to say that "The Winslow Boy" is a comedy. It is, in fact, an interesting family drama that happens to be quite funny.

The cast performs flawlessly but my two favorites are Northam and Pidgeon. Both characters are finally layered and ring true of real people. They also share a sexual tension that is one of the most believable I've ever seen between two fictional characters. I'm not super familiar with the two actors but I will watch for their work in the years to come.

Mamet's work here is first rate. His direction is solid and he has a knack for being able to imply feelings and situations without blatantly showing them. Even the final court case is implied at. We never actually see the trial and the effect is brilliant. As in life, the biggest events in "The Winslow Boy" happen outside our presence. This storytelling technique gives the film a welcome sense of realism missing from most dramas today.

I'd have to rate "The Winslow Boy" as one of the nicest surprises of the year.

8 out of 10!