Bill Murray does a pretty good FDR in the trailer for Hyde Park on Hudson

I hope that we live to see the words Academy Award Winner in front of Bill Murray’s name. The guy has turned in some excellent film work in the past couple of decades and deserves to be recognized for it. In his latest serio-comic role, Murray takes on the persona of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

I never thought I would see those names in the same sentence, but we have actual proof in the form of a poster and a trailer. Check it out.

Synopsis: In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Academy Award nominee Bill Murray) and his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams) host the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York – the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one. Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Academy Award nominee Laura Linney), Franklin’s neighbor and intimate, the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great nations, but, for Daisy – and through her, for us all – a deeper understanding of the mysteries of love and friendship.

The cast is good and Murray looks really excellent as FDR. I hope people do not dwell on the fact that FDR and his mistress were distant cousins. This may be a bit dry for most audiences, but when it comes to Bill Murray, I will watch anything.

HYDE PARK ON HUDSON opens in limited release on December 7th.