TxMike My wife and I enjoyed this movie much, we watched it at home on DVD from our public library.The events depicted here are all factual, starting in 1947 and continuing into the 1950s. David Oyelowo, who was so good in "Selma" as MLK, is Seretse Khama, on track to become King of his small African country. He is completing his education in England when he meets his eventual wife, Rosamund Pike as Ruth Williams, a clerk at Lloyd's of London. About a year later they married.Most of the movie deals with the outfall from that marriage. Back in the homeland Khama's people, initially opposed to this white woman to become their Queen, eventually accepted her. But the big problem was being a British Protectorate, the British government prevented this from going forward because they needed S. Africa who objected strongly and at the time was establishing apartheid. So Khama was exiled.The story does end well, not all of this covered in the movie, public pressure on the British helped, and in 1966 Khama became the 1st President of Botswana, serving in that role until his death in 1980 at the age of 59. Today his eldest son, Ian, is the 4th President of Botswana.Good story, good movie!

gradyharp A film that recalls the days of British colonization at its peak director Amma Asante brings a welcome light to the book by Susan Williams (Colour Bar) as adapted by Guy Hibbert. The cast is superb, the scenery and mood are well captured by cinematographer Sam McCurdy, and the musical score by Patrick Doyle takes us back to the 40s is a most appropriate and additive manner.The year is 1947 and Prince Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) of Bechuanaland (now known as Botswana), in England studying law preparing for his ascendency to the throne as king, meets Ruth Williams Rosamond Pike), a clerk and in a fine romance they fall in love and plan to marry. While they suspect that his uncle (Vusi Kunene), the Regent, would disapprove, nothing prepares them for the diplomatic firestorm and domestic political tumult their defiant love would spark. Now facing a citizenry leery of a white Briton as their Queen, the international opposition is even more unyielding from the British holding their land as a protectorate and fearful of South Africa's racist backlash to this affront to their apartheid domination. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds King Khama and Ruth must struggle to maintain their love and help their people in a land that would become the Republic of Botswana. Ruth's parents (Nicholas Lyndhurst and Anastasia Hille) swear to disown Ruth while her sister (Laura Carmichael) supports the their love and plans. The evil British government officials (Jack Davenport, Jack Lowden, Anton Lesser, et al) ultimately fail in their intent to control Seretse and Ruth in a manner that few of us realized was such a difficult struggle for independence.This is a film that should be a 'must see' for all, especially now during the harsh racial struggles her and around the globe. Very highly recommended

popcorninhell In a word, A United Kingdom is handsome. To loan it another, it's also stately; handsome and stately, stately and handsome. Both words immediately conjure memories of Enchanted April (1991) or anything adapted from a Jane Austen novel. The kind of movie with people walking down hallways and through courtyards looking flustered. Handsome and stately; But is it important?Director Amma Asante and screenwriter Guy Hibbert seem to think so, pitting the film's protagonists against Winston Churchill while evoking memories of no less than Nelson Mandela. Of course it has good reason to; A United Kingdom is not a work of fiction but rather an inspiring true story of an African king and a British subject who chooses to be his queen. The story of Seretse Khama (D. Oyelowo) and the lovely Ruth Williams (Pike) starts like most great romances do, with the intense locking of eyes and a world of obstacles lying in waiting. The two court and marry within the first act and make their way to Bechuanaland (now Botswana) where trouble takes the form of familial tensions and geo-political intrigue. Can their love survive the ever-mounting pressures of the British Crown and neighboring Apartheid period South Africa? Or will the marriage crumble like the infrastructure of what was then the poorest country on Earth.That very question, the limits of their undying love, forms the nucleus of A United Kingdom, the implications of which wrap the story like pink colored cellophane. The events of the film span a decade and during all that time, what we mostly get is the same sanitized story beats as a Disney Princess movie. Not much in the way of global politics or economics and nothing but what you'd expect as far as period appropriate racism. It's all done so safely; so demure and limited by superficial pomp.The irony of course is director Amma Asante seems to really care about these sorts of true-life stories. Her last film Belle (2013), worked within the confines of a stuffy period piece, to call attention to an obscure life at the nexus of racism and aristocracy. But while that movie had the luxury of gifting its audience something new into familiar wrapping, A United Kingdom can't really break free from its own limitations. We've seen this all before the only difference is the specter of Apartheid isn't personified by a severe man twirling his mustache.The British Empire however is personified in Jack Davenport and Tom Felton. Both play British functionaries whose sole job is to pull our two lovebirds apart, and boy do they ever relish their roles. Jack Davenport specifically is at pinnacle Larry Grey; his debonair smugness is so deliciously Anglo that birds would mistake his upturned nose for a littoral cave. Likewise Felton is the epitome of priggishness, a muscle he has toned and perfected with every Harry Potter (2001- 2011) installment. While I'm a little sad that franchise has relegated him to play weaksauce villains for the rest of his life, there's a consolation in knowing there are worse fates for child actors turned adult.As for Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo, they both do splendidly; though is there any doubt that they wouldn't? Both are gifted actors and both do what is required of them which mostly consist of holding hands and looking like the weight of the world is on their shoulders.So A United Kingdom may not ultimately be an important movie. Yet its heart is unarguably in the right place. It manages to tell a lovely real-life Cinderella story with accomplished actors doing their best to do their historical analogs justice. The faults lay with the direction and tone of the film which certainly isn't enough to mar the film. Yet considering how safe it ultimately ends up feeling, I doubt the film is doing the legacy of the Khama's any favors.

Sean Payne First off I want to say that this film had me in tears, in this film you will find as our British friends would say right from the off you will find Intense political intrigue and infighting, This Not a Movie for the younger set anyone under Fourteen should NOT see this film you need a firm grasp on politics and race and History to Understand this Movie, there are suggestive themes and racial overtones, But all in all a Ten out of Ten Stars I give this film definitely a History lovers paradise in this movie David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike both gave Hollywood Walk of fame performances, I would not mind seeing it again I was very moved by the local people's acceptance of Ruth as their Queen Please Rent this form your local Library for you and your Mid to late Teens to see I say Again NOT for anyone under 14. Bot actors get A resounding 10 stars a piece