W/E

For some movie-goers who attend a screening of W/E, a movie that seems on the surface to be about England’s notorious Wallace and Edward, expectations would center on the love story of … "that" Wallace and Edward. Imagine my surprise to find out that it’s sort of about that couple, but mostly not. This has to be one of the most challenging movies to unravel in recent months, tying Tinker/Tailor for requiring intense cognitive engagement throughout the viewing experience.

Yes, there is a main character, Wally, but she’s named for Wallace Simpson. She works at Sotheby’s, which is auctioning off memorabilia from Wallace and Edward’s estate, which is the tie-in to that famous couple. Her own first marriage was a nightmare and she’s enduring her second marriage, another reflection of the famous Wally, and she also dreams about having what is lacking in her life: a loving husband and a child. We learn that the famous Wally lost her unborn child when her first husband viciously attacked her physically; hence, she was not able to conceive. The named-for Wally also cannot conceive, but that problem is cured with a torrid affair with a museum guard who recognizes her vulnerability and insinuates himself into her life after this Wally is beaten by her husband and flees for her life.

For whatever reason, the present-day Wally becomes focused on the famous Wally’s lament that no one ever knew the story from her side, so my best guess is that Madonna decided to get that story “out there” by using a fictional parallel present-day story. Good technique if it works, but I’m not convinced that it works all that well. Additionally, it's challenging to feel sorry for the notorious Wally's lament that she lives like a prisoner after Edward gives up his throne and spends the rest of his life in exile with her. Another cautionary tale: be careful what you wish for as you may get it.

Below it all is a good movie; it’s just challenging to get there from thinking it’s about one couple and realizing it’s about another couple. The flashbacks and flash-betweens are difficult to follow because the viewer keeps waiting for the movie to be about England's notorious Wallace and Edward, not the present-day Wally Wannabee and her life. Yes, there are parallels, but the movie is sold to the public under false pretenses. While other viewers, perhaps those who expected the movie to be about the famous Wallace and Edward, walked out of the theater, I stayed the course, but it was a close call about half-way through the screening!