Already tipped to win Best Actress at the upcoming Oscars, “The Queen” revolves around the monarchy of Great Britain following the days after Princess Diana’s death in August 1997.

The obvious focus of the movie is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren), the current monarch of Great Britain. As the figurehead of England, Elizabeth must deal with public backlash after the royal family fails to capture the spirit of the nation. Although the public turns away from Elizabeth, it rallies behind the newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) after he labels Diana “the People’s Princess.” As the first minister of the queen, he must fight to bring her around to public consensus or risk the people’s cry to abolish the monarchy permanently.

The main attraction of this film is Mirren. On the heels of her magnificent performance in the television mini-series Elizabeth I, which garnished her the Emmy for Best Actress, she is unrelenting in her portrayal of the queen. This is a person who doesn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve, a person who believes Diana’s death is “a family matter,” and because of that does not want to bend to public opinion on how the funeral should be handled.

Where others shout, Mirren scolds; where others wail, Mirren sighs. She refuses to rely on classical means to convey emotion; rather, she sticks to her guns and plays the character as it should be: the embodiment of Britain’s “stiff upper lip.”

The performance is truly breathtaking. All great characters have flaws, and Mirren happily brings her majesty’s flaws to the screen. She is arrogant and very stubborn. In many ways, she has lost touch with what the people want, yet we also understand her motivation, largely because of Mirren’s work. She won’t break tradition and change how things are done just to avoid bad publicity.

The film probes into the dilemmas of the royal family in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death; for example, because Diana was not “her royal highness” when she died, she cannot have a state funeral. The flag over Buckingham palace is there to indicate if the monarch is at home, and it won’t be flown at half-mast for Diana – it won’t even be flown at half-mast when the queen dies. I can’t stress enough how complex this performance is, how every aspect has been intricately thought out and analyzed. Wonderful, wonderful work.

Directed by Stephen Frears (“Mrs. Henderson Presents,” “Dangerous Liaisons”), the film uses a great amount of real television footage from the event, including news broadcasts, documentary footage and the live broadcast of Diana’s funeral. Similar in style of “Good Night, And Good Luck,” it blends the two elements of real truth and fictional assumptions on the events, which results in an intriguing look at the royal family.

Although the queen and Blair come off in a very good light, some more minor characters become stuck in a rather two-dimensional portrayal – Prince Charles, Alastair Campbell and Prince Philip, in particular. It is a shame that we gain such richly layered performances contrasted with very shallow ones.

Despite its excellence, I do not know if many of you will enjoy this movie. It relies on the viewer having a good understanding of the events that enveloped the royal family. I used the example of “Good Night, and Good Luck” earlier for one specific reason: England didn’t get it. To be honest, I, your consummate Englishman, thought it was rather boring. This is because we do not learn about McCarthyism in school; it did not and does not affect us – in essence, we don’t care. And I think this film is the same thing from the opposite side.

Lastly, I’ll mention Sheen’s great turn as Blair. I do not like his politics in real life, but that does not stop me from enjoying this performance. An eerily perfect impersonation of the current prime minister, from his “Cheshire Cat smile” to his physical use of his hands – both of which are enjoyable to watch. His relationship to the queen – his desire to help her escape the newspapers’ wrath – is actually believable in this actor’s hands.

This is not a date movie, nor is this a desperately high-stakes movie, but it is very enjoyable if you like this kind of thing. If you didn’t enjoy “Good Night, And Good Luck,” you will not enjoy this one. So save your money and see “Casino Royale” instead.