The Goya Next Door: Michell’s Swan Song a Slender Thread of Anti-authoritarianism

We’re primed to believe in the importance of a film whenever we’re greeted with the ‘based on a true story’ adage during the opening credits, connoting the approximation of someone or something of note. Unfortunately, the most notable element of The Duke is how it stands as the final narrative feature directed by the great Roger Michell, ending a formidable career on a frivolous lark starring a pair of the UK’s finest actors, Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent.

Penned by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman (who previously have written for television and National Theater productions), it’s a light and breezy escapade outfitted specifically to appeal to a certain mature sensibility—but even by such stereotypical and venerable expectations, Michell’s exercise is something of an underwhelming exercise failing to prove why this minor...