Judi Dench, Ali Fazal in 'Victoria & Abdul'
(CNN)Even taking acknowledged liberties with what's billed as a "mostly" a true story, "Victoria & Abdul" is such a fascinating, relevant slice of history it's a shame that the movie isn't a bit less superficial. Anchored by Judi Dench's towering presence, what emerges is a small-scale film on the order of "Driving Miss Daisy," yet which leaves its protagonists' motives frustratingly murky.
Set in 1887, the movie finds Dench's Queen Victoria bent and wizened, an octogenarian who has outlived most of her contemporaries and has little use for the toadies around her. The monarch is unexpectedly smitten, for want of a better word, by Abdul Karim (Indian star Ali Fazal), a young clerk who has been dispatched from India to deliver a gift as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee.
Abdul appears to instinctively reciprocate that admiration, for reasons that writer Lee Hall ("Billy Elliot") and director Stephen Frears ("The Queen") leave vague. As his perplexed colleague (Adeel Akhtar) notes, the British have done no favors to their homeland as a colony, which makes his immediate devotion puzzling.
Simply put, it would help if we knew more -- indeed, almost anything -- about him. While there's nothing wrong with being inspired to Google the subject after watching a movie, it shouldn't feel like a prerequisite.
Abdul becomes the queen's constant companion and Munshi, or teacher, instructing her about India, Urdu and Islam. The relationship unsettles the court, breeding suspicion regarding his motives from such quarters as the queen's son (Eddie Izzard), doctor (Paul Higgins) and Prime Minister (Michael Gambon, briefly).