It's about love and hate between a man and a woman and their sons.
It's also about politics, vengeance, greed and ambition. It other words it's about life.

Starring: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Nigel Terry, Timothy Dalton, Jane Merrow, Nigel Stock, O.Z. Whitehead, Ella More

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can't we love one another just a little - that's how peace begins." - Eleanor of Aquitaine

Why watch this? ... The verbal sparring between Hepburn and O'Toole is legendary.

Plot Summary: Set in 1183 in the Angevin Empire, King Henry II, on Christmas, plans to announce his kingdom's successor. For the holiday, he brings in his exiled (and imprisoned) wife, Queen Eleanor, from England. She insists upon eldest son Richard, while Henry favors his youngest, Prince John. Middle son, Geoffrey, has schemes of his own in play to seize the crown. This is royal-family dysfunction medieval-style as everyone involved plots, pokes and enjoys turning the proverbial knife at every turn. There are lethal doses aplenty of ruthlessness, secrets, accusations and greed.

Dad's Preview: At the film's center is the tenuous relationship between Henry and Eleanor. He's a frustrated tyrant under the yoke of kingship, while she sports a stern, unyielding personality. This was the main reason for their estrangement. There are excellent, emotional performances from all the lead British male actors, and the brilliant O'Toole stands out as Henry. However, it is Hepburn's Oscar-winning performance, as Eleanor, that dominates. She's a strong, deftly-maneuvering matriarch, who manages to make the most of, even thrive, in a world of power-hungry, often irrational, men.

Haworth Productions; AVCO Embassy Pictures