Scoop

It's by no means a bad film. Overall, watching it is an enjoyable experience, But given the interesting subject matter, there is too much on matters that are irrelevant to the main issue

The interview with Prince Andrew captivated England at the time, and apparently much of the world too. If the film had concentrated more on how that came about , and the debates on both sides as to whether it should go ahead, I would have rated it higher. But the film lost its focus and concentrated far too much on the researcher who set up the interview. We see scenes with her mother. Scenes with her son. A debate about her son's girlfriend etc etc. If this was a fictional tale, maybe fair enough to flesh out other characters. But for a real life story, that wasn't what I was watching it for, and I felt it deflected attention from the main issues.

The subject matter of the interview was interesting, but you are better off just watching the real life interview of this is what you are interested in. Andrew's serious character flaws are already well known and we don't see anything new here. The film tried to flesh out the events surrounding the interview without much success, possibly because these events weren't particularly interesting or insightful. It served more as a self-congratulatory vehicle for the journalists involved, I have to admit the back slapping from the girls club was a bit sickly. Some good performances but not enough to elevate this mediocre production.

Had high expectations and was expecting something along the lines of She Said, Bombshell or Spotlight. It just didn't hit the mark.

A fabulous and highly experienced cast did their best, but not sure the script or direction did much to recommend the film. Gillian Anderson was great, as always, as was Rufus Sewell, but there was just something missing for me; something I can't quite point my finger on. It lacked audience empathy for the producer to find, seek and get the story up. In fairness, they tried with the usual cinematic narrative tools but just didn't work.

I work in PR and media and know how hard and neigh impossible securing that interview would have been and the internal dynamics and politics within the Palace pr machine. But you just don't feel the challenge or struggle.

Definitely enjoyable but not outstanding.

Yet again, Gillian Anderson absolutely nails her character, Emily, the way she did with Thatcher. The expressions during the interview with the Prince were so uncanny, you almost do a double-take to see if they'd spliced in actual footage! Billy was good as Sam, although her performance and the script didn't quite capture Sam's humour and her strengths that you can watch on longer interviews she's done. Rufus did an adequate job as Prince Andrew, certainly with replicating the trainwreck interview sequence but I feel they could have touched on a bit more of his repulsiveness - however, the story is, afterall, from Sam's point of view. When he gets out of the bath to check his phone, after the interview had just aired, it would have been a nice touch to see who had left the message ~ "Mummy".

Everybody has a right to their own opinion however in my view this is one of the most gripping films I've seen. Gillian Anderson is brilliant as Emily Maitless and Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew made the best of what must have been a very awkward part to play. The rest of the cast did a good job as well. The running time of 1 hour 42 mins passed so quickly. Once again Netflix triumphs so well done to them. It's not very often that there are decent tv and films around but thankfully this is definitely one of them in my humble opinion. I really found this production enjoyable. Well done to everyone involved.