★★★

After earning an Oscar qualifying run in December 2021, The Duke is getting a delayed April 2022 release and proves to be a nice, entertaining film; easy to overlook, but a lot of fun for those who invest their time.

Jim Broadbent stars as Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old British man who famously stole a painting of Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington in 1961 from the National Gallery in London.

Seemingly always at odds with everyone, about something, all of the time, Kempton has a zip in his step and a mischievous grin painted on his face most times. He rankles his wife Dorothy (Helen Mirren) often and sees himself as standing up against authority. Underscoring the breezy nature of the film, and the cool/clever heist style of the film, is a family tragedy that Kempton and Dorothy, and their two sons, have never fully come to terms with.

Though there are dramatic beats, only Broadbent could make Kempton Bunton such a likable contrarian to society. He bounds through The Duke with effortless glee. As the final film of late filmmaker Roger Michell, The Duke is a sweet-natured confection. A snappy, jazzy score by George Fenton punctuates the brisk nature of the storytelling, even if the film feels a bit slight in retrospect.

Still, there are far worse ways to spend a day or an evening, watching Oscar winners Broadbent and Mirren take control of a rather by-the-numbers script and story. In the end, the film gives us easy, jovial escape into a bizarre moment in history that certainly would lend itself to undoubtedly one great documentary.

The Duke was screened as part of the 48th Seattle International Film Festival.