Timothée Chalamet Deserves Better Than 'The King'

Will Timothée Chalamet transcend the lightly troubled, pretty-boy archetype of most of his film roles so far? Does he look good with blood smattered all over his face? Can he fight?! These were a few of the questions on my mind before entering a screening for his latest film, The King.

Like 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio before him, the 23-year-old has cultivated a die-hard audience from a few films. He’s hot property in the hearts of many girls and boys, who fell for him in his Academy Award-nominated performance as Elio in 2017's Call Me By Your Name, then witnessed him in a new light as a Lady Bird minor character. At different levels, both roles that showcased his talent for portraying an emotionally torn yet aesthetically beautiful character.

Then you've got last year’s Beautiful Boy. Based on the best-selling memoirs from father and son duo David and Nic Sheff, the addiction-focused film added a layer of weight to Chalamet’s back catalogue. But, though the demands of the role added an extra bow to his arrow, his character still fell into similar territory to those he’s previously played – namely, a gorgeous young man dealing in personal relationships.

And so, by its very nature as a medieval-era film, The King is completely different to anything he’s done before. This poses several lines of inquiry. Crucially, can he fulfil the role asked of him – going from a boy, to a man, to the titular king? The answers here are as integral to the audience as they are the character himself. Chalamet plays King Henry V of England – a real life hunk in a suit of armour, circa 1413, thrust into the role of chief monarch despite serious doubt from those around him.

Unless you’re hot for history and slow, tepid dialogue, this is largely a really boring film that’s probably best watched while not paying it huge amounts of attention. For those who didn’t study British history, or read Shakespeare's Henriad plays, King Henry V’s rule took place in the The Hundred Years’ War – so named because England and France were fighting for so long. The King begins bang in the middle of this 14th-century fracas, kicking off shortly before King Henry takes up his position and ending after one of the bloody battles.

Some of its biggest moments, arguably, are brought to light by Robert Pattinson as the smarmy French prince, The Dauphin of France. Since eating Kristin Stewart’s soul or whatever in Twilight, R Patz has devoted himself to off-kilter roles – a shit bank robber in the fantastic Good Time, exploring under the influence in The Lost City of Z, and hanging out in space in the really very strange High Life. And so, this turn is the latest for a once franchise actor who is determined to push himself to the limits.

Pattinson literally gets to give the brighter performance here. He works with a lightly comedic role which he dives into with an infectious level of steez, helping to off-set the dirge of war. However that’s not to say little Timothée is bad at all. He’s one of only a few American actors who can successfully do a British accent that doesn’t sound like a soot-ridden chimney sweep. This really shows in the scenes where he goes for it and shouts too, because – and try this right now – it is very hard to declare screaming war and death to all your enemies in an accent that is not your own. Have a go or trust me.

Yet the sprinklings of good performances by men with good faces can't save a movie as boring as this one. There are some stand-out moments that I'm not going to spoil (mostly, these involve fighting) but the majority of the film kind of, just… plods along? With a running time barely shy of two hours it's not even particularly long. But the pacing makes it feel twice its length, as the though the viewer is literally following King Henry on foot while he makes his way across the channel and toward France.

It would be easy to claim that Chalamet has started to go down a path similar to Leo DiCaprio's – an obvious parallel to draw to Chalamet's experience of looking hot and being famous in young Hollywood. But you might see the comparison for some of the wrong reasons. After Romeo and Juliet and Titanic, DiCaprio did the Man In The Iron Mask (anyone?) and the Woody Allen directed Celebrity, both of which flopped. Arguably, Chalamet's not worked with material as good as Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird since, with Hot Summer Nights, Beautiful Boy and this historical bore sliding in afterwards. None are terrible, but none as good as the roles that first turned Chalamet into a sensation.

Chalamet can very clearly act but right now he’s getting cast in films where the overall product doesn't hold up his talent. Beautiful Boy largely leaned on emotional interactions between Chalamet and his co-star Steve Carell. And here, in The King, he's left to carry the dead weight of a less-than-engaging script.

And so, I leave the screening for The King with my questions answered. Can sexy boy step up to take on new roles that might once have been considered out of his wheelhouse? Yes. Should he be booking better films than this snooze fest? Yes yes yes. Like I said, flick it on when you can drift slowly in-and-out, catching the odd scene where Chalamet shines.

'The King' is out in cinemas from today, Friday the 11th of October, before it's due to be available for streaming on Netflix on Friday the 1st of November.

@ryanbassil