David Mamet's latest film, The Winslow Boy, is an adaptation of the play by Terence Rattigan, which he based on events in 1908 England. The question raised is simple enough: Should the powerful have more rights than the less powerful? And the answer is easy, too: No.
The Winslow Boy is Ronald Winslow (Guy Edwards), a 14-year-old cadet who has been expelled from the Naval College at Osbourne for forging a five-shilling postal note. Young Ronnie's father, the respected banker Arthur Winslow (Nigel Hawthorne), asks his son if he is guilty. The boy says no, and the father seeks to clear his name with the help of his suffragist daughter, Catherine (Rebecca Pidgeon).
After the school rejects Arthur's requests to have his son cleared, he hires Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam), a lawyer known for his conservative views and his courtroom theatrics. Morton hopes to sue the Admiralty and the Crown, at a time when challenging these bodies is unthinkable. As the case is being argued before the House of Lords, public interest grows. The Winslows' resources dwindle and Catherine's relationship with her fiance disintegrates. Ronnie's mother (Gemma Jones) asks whether it's worth it, and Ronnie sees the whole matter as a distraction for his after-school hours.
The Winslow Boy is a sedate affair. Suggestions are dropped, minor props are used to good effect, and emotions are kept simmering just beneath the surface. Those emotions never do make an appearance -- all of the drama happens off-screen. Some, overstimulated by the gee-whizardry of The Phantom Menace and the uber-obviousness of Austin Powers, may find this approach a bit dull. Others, those just as overstimulated, may find it refreshing.
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