My Kingdom (2001)

32% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
50% of users liked it
(404 ratings)

William Shakespeare's King Lear is transposed into a modern-dress British crime drama in this tense tale of family ties and the lust for power. Sandeman (Richard Harris) is the elderly leader of a Liverpool crime syndicate who is fiercely loyal to his wife Mandy (Lynn Redgrave) and his daughters Jo… More William Shakespeare's King Lear is transposed into a modern-dress British crime drama in this tense tale of family ties and the lust for power. Sandeman (Richard Harris) is the elderly leader of a Liverpool crime syndicate who is fiercely loyal to his wife Mandy (Lynn Redgrave) and his daughters Jo (Emma Catherwood), Tracy (Lorraine Pilkington), and Kath (Louise Lombard). When Mandy is shot dead during a street robbery, Sandeman is shattered, and decides it's time to turn the business over to one of his daughters. Jo, the middle child, has long been Sandeman's favorite, and he decides to give her control of the business, as well as the lion's share of his estate when he dies. Loyal Jo, however, does not want to get involved in her father's dealings, which leads to a heated battle between Tracy and Kath over Sandeman's empire; adding fuel to the fire are Dean (Paul McGann), a strong-arm man for Sandeman who's married to Kath, and Jug (Jimi Mistry), Tracy's spouse and a notorious drug dealer. As a civil war rages among Sandeman's family and associates over control of his syndicate, police officer Puttnam (Aidan Gillen) and customs agent Quick (Tom Bell) make one last attempt to put Sandeman behind bars before he retires from his life of crime. My Kingdom isn't the first gangland drama to be based on the work of William Shakespeare; another of the Bard's tragedies received similar treatment in 1955's Joe Macbeth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 57 min.
Directed By: Don Boyd
Written By: Don Boyd, Nick Davies
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Dec 6, 2002 Limited
Studio: Primary Pictures

Critic Reviews

Derek Elley, Variety
Richard Harris is at his weariest, battle-scarred best...
Mike Clark, USA Today
Whereas last year's exemplary Sexy Beast seemed to revitalize the British gangster movie, this equally brutal outing merely sustains it.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Gaunt, silver-haired and leonine, [Harris] brings a tragic dimension and savage full-bodied wit and cunning to the aging Sandeman.
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
Harris commands the screen, using his frailty to suggest the ravages of a life of corruption and ruthlessness.
Ali Catterall, Film4
Leading man Harris and director Boyd are still capable of invigorating British cinema with style and flair.
Wally Hammond, Time Out
Neither an effective gangland thriller nor an achieved elegy for a lord undone.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Would get no love were it not for Harris' powerful performance.
Rich Cline, Film Threat
We spend so much time trying desperately to get everything straight in our minds that the raw punch of the material passes us by.
Darrin Keene, Film Threat
Suffice it to say that Shakespeare's sudden and violent ending doesn't translate well into a British crime drama.
Tony Medley, tonymedley.com
Harris's performance is one for the ages, but the others are also up to his mark.
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News
Watching Harris ham it up while physically and emotionally disintegrating over the course of the movie has a certain poignancy in light of his recent death, but Boyd's film offers little else of consequence.
Susan Green, Boxoffice Magazine
Without Shakespeare's eloquent language, the update is dreary and sluggish.
Emily Blunt, Blunt Review
The film lost me, and the sad twists of unrealistic mumbo jumbo crescendoing into pure mayhem ruined what could have been a thespian delight.
, E! Online
The cast reigns supreme, especially Harris, whose regal presence as the aging emperor of gangland grounds the story even as it suffers from narrative overload.
Dan Fienberg, L.A. Weekly
A baffling subplot involving smuggling drugs inside Danish cows falls flat, and if you're going to alter the Bard's ending, you'd better have a good alternative.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
This ponderous, heavy-handed version of King Lear almost makes me think it's best left to the Americans.
Neil Smith, BBC
Boyd's screenplay (co-written with Guardian hack Nick Davies) has a florid turn of phrase that owes more to Guy Ritchie than the Bard of Avon.