Playwright Alan Bennett's account of the ailing mind of George III during the later years of the latter's reign as King of Great Britain and Ireland is a grand and frivolous spectacle about mental illness, 19th century politics and mild scatology. With a fine cast and appropriate art direction, the film may not exactly transport you back to the early 1800s, but it certainly carries you away to the solid British theatre tradition in which the film has its roots, and director Nicholas Hytner's adaptation from Bennett's own play is rather smart. Nigel Hawthorne reprised his stage role as George III, and his accomplished performance is the obvious focal point in a film which is more than mildly entertaining and only marred by a slight whiff of superficiality.