Hyde Park on HudsonMovie Reviews

So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 55 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 OK for kids 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    Murray and Linney are terrific together (and apart), their notes pitch perfect, and the supporting cast is good all around. Read full review

  • 85
    NPR | Ella Taylor

    This hugely entertaining movie is about the wisdom and - with trenchant wit and sympathy - the human flaws in one of America's most idealized heads of state. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy

    Bill Murray as FDR? It takes a few minutes to get used to, but once he settles into the role of the 32nd president, the idiosyncratic comic actor does a wonderfully jaunty job of it in Hyde Park on Hudson. Read full review

  • 60
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    Some of Hyde Park on Hudson feels like lost scenes from "The King's Speech," the 2010 Oscar-winner about King George. It doesn't help that "Hyde's" own rhythms, appealing as they are, are often soporific. Read full review

  • 60
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Mr. Murray gives a fascinating performance, even though his FDR was conceived and written as a fairly small guy at the center of a small film that, for all its considerable charm, miniaturizes its hero in the process of humanizing him. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The only way Bill Murray could seem less like Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson is if the movie showed him winning a marathon. Read full review

  • 50
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The actors can't perform miracles. Hot dogs are served in the final scene, but trust me, Hyde Park on Hudson is no picnic. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The setting is vivid but the film is lifeless, despite many innuendos dropped about FDR's alleged infidelity. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    It's tastelessness like this, served up as fair-game dish to a Downton Abbey-loving audience, that sours the flavor of this tittery production. Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    I don't know if I've ever seen a movie as spectacularly tone-deaf as Hyde Park on Hudson. Read full review

View more reviews for Hyde Park on Hudson on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 16+ Presidential drama is well acted but short on passion.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Hyde Park on Hudson is a light period drama focusing on a fateful weekend when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Bill Murray) played host to the king and queen of England. Against a rich backdrop of pre-World War II history, an infatuation develops between the president and his distant cousin, Margaret Stuckley (Laura Linney). The movie offers a decidedly intimate portrayal of the president, following him into his bedroom. One fairly sexual scene takes place in a car; nothing graphic is shown, but movements and gestures imply that a woman is using her hand to pleasure a man. A naked woman is also seen in the background of another scene (fuzzily), and there's also some swearing and plenty of period-accurate smoking and drinking.
  • Families can talk about how Hyde Park on Hudson portrays Roosevelt. How does it compare to the FDR we usually see in movies and TV shows? Which do you think is a more accurate depiction? Why do filmmakers sometimes take liberties with history?
  • Is it challenging to view a beloved president in this light? Or does Hyde Park on Hudson do a good job of humanizing him, even if it means knocking him off the proverbial pedestal?
  • Why is Daisy drawn to FDR, and vice versa? How does the film portray Eleanor Roosevelt and her reaction to Daisy?
The good stuff
  • message true2 Positive messages: Men and women of greatness are human, too -- with their own foibles and failings. So perhaps it's best not to lionize them, but to appreciate what they bring to the table without losing sight of their humanity.
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: Daisy is loyal and true to FDR from the start. She's genuinely interested in him as a person, not as the president of the United States. Still, he is a married man, and both of them are culpable in how they act on their attraction to each other.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: A little yelling.
  • sex false3 Sexy stuff: One scene shows a couple in a car -- it's strongly implied that she's using her hand to pleasure him. Viewers don't see much more than their faces and the backs of their heads, though there's bouncy movement that hints at what's happening. Later, characters discuss one person's rampant infidelity and speculate about another's sexuality. In the background of one scene, a naked woman is seen (fuzzily and from somewhat of a distance).
  • language false2 Language: Relatively infrequent language includes "damn," "hell," "son of a bitch," "whore," "oh my God," and "goddamn."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of era-accurate smoking. Some characters also drink cocktails to relax, though they bear the brunt of another person's disapproval for doing so.
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Hyde Park on Hudson Movie Reviews + Ratings

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Exclusive Features

Cast Interviews Exclusive Cast Interview Bill Murray talks about playing FDR, Laura Linney on her fascination with the iconic president and Murray's thoughts on SNL and Ghostbusters.