The Duke (2021)

The Duke is one of those rare true-story comedies that feels both delightfully mischievous and quietly profound, turning an art heist into a warm-hearted argument for dignity and decency. Roger Michell directs with a light touch, letting the period detail and gentle humor sneak up on you while Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren make a lived-in marriage feel funny, prickly, and deeply human. The film’s charm comes from how it treats its characters not as punchlines but as people—stubborn, flawed, and trying, in their own imperfect way, to make the world fairer. It’s cozy and crowd-pleasing rather than edgy, though the language and a few adult moments mean it’s not exactly Sunday-matinee squeaky clean, and if you like your dramas hard-bitten you may find it too kindly—but if you want a smart, uplifting watch, it’s a small treasure.

The Duke is aiming for a cozy, true-ish British caper with a conscience, using a famous art theft to talk about dignity, aging, and doing the right thing. It mostly succeeds on charm rather than bite, and if you’re hoping for a tense heist, sharp satire, or big emotional punches, you may find it a bit too sweet, predictable, and carefully reassuring. The writing can feel like it’s nudging you toward the “uplifting” takeaway instead of letting the messiness land, which makes the comedy and drama stay pleasantly mild. That said, Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren do a lot of heavy lifting, so if you enjoy gentle, performance-led period stories with a warm heart, this will likely be time well spent.