3/5 An Interesting Film, Despite Its Pacing
  by Daniel R. Sanderman (Portland, OR United States)
TO KILL A KING is an interesting film about a troubled relationship between two powerful men. I agree with those reviewers who highlight this aspect of the film because it truly is more of a character piece than a historical drama. My only problem with the film is its pacing. It drags in places and urges one to shut it off. But don't. It's definitely worth a watch.

3/5 Enjoyable for History and Costume Drama Enthusiasts
  by Jennifer Terry (Parker, CO United States)
I had never even heard of this film when I ordered it through the Amazon Vine program, but my interest was piqued by the subject matter (the English Civil War around 1645) and the cast (surprisingly well-known: Tim Roth, Rupert Everett, Dougray Scott, and Olivia Williams).

Despite the film's obscurity (to me, at least) and the fact that it is a little after my typical period of interest in English history (the Tudors), I enjoyed it and was entertained. You can read the synopsis, but briefly, it covers a period of years at the end of the English Civil War, right when the rebels win, execute the king (Charles I, played adeptly by Everett), and take over the government. The subplot is the strained friendship between Oliver Cromwell (Roth) and his charismatic general, Lord Fairfax (Scott).

This is a generally good costume drama, although I felt like it skimmed over some of the history, pushing through a few years and only briefly touching on things like why the English was fighting against Charles I (it's only mentioned in passing, so a viewer unfamiliar with the history would be unsure whether they should sympathize with Charles or not). Scott's Fairfax is meant to be beguiling, charming, and a born leader, but I found him a bit limp. Scott didn't seem to have the oozing charisma to infuse in his portrayal of someone who inspired a country to rebel against the institution that is the monarchy. Roth is always very good, and this is no exception. I found the tension between his Cromwell and Lady Fairfax (Olivia Williams) very good. Besides Scott's strictly OK performance and the skimping on the history, I only had one more minor criticism, and that is that the camera work was a bit jolting or odd in a few places.

Don't expect this to be as sumptuous as other costume dramas, such as Elizabeth or The Duchess, but you will definitely enjoy the film if you are interested in this period of history and in the actors who reenact it.


5/5 Not Your Standard Costume Drama
  by G. Morton (USA)
I had halfway expected a standard costume drama with plenty of bloody action and steamy sex scenes - you know, the usual Hollywood crapola job for such historical topics - but not at all. It was a well acted, well scripted first class film mainly about the relationship between Cromwell and general Fairfax. Of course, the film has to suffer some from the fact that the historical context is too large for just a 102 min film: one does sense there was a more going on and one might miss having a little more explicit background but I found the characterizations and plot satisfying. Maybe not a great film but a very enjoyable one done with class.

3/5 To Kill a King
  by Chapati (Chicago)
I found this movie enjoyable. The court of Charles I is not one that I am overly familiar with, but as far as I could tell, the movie was not glaringly inaccurate in its presentation. I thought the actors did a good job of portraying their characters- from idealistic to angry to then being quite disturbed by how far their actions had taken them- to kill a king. I didn't think the storyline had anything very new to offer, but as a historical film, it was pretty good- I do love costume drama, so it fit the bill pretty well!

3/5 The Cromwell Years
  by Alan C. Freeman (Vilnius, Lithuania)
To Kill a King is somewhat interesting. However, I would hesitate to give a strong recommendation. It provides a "Hollywood" interpretation of the Cromwell years but with many, but somewhat, inaccurate inclusions to make the film more interesting to the viewer.

The film's setting and costumes are good, the story line somewhat drags and the overall depth of the film is lacking. Purchase this film if you have an interest in this period of English history. Otherwise, buy something else.