Less positive was Peter Bradshaw, film critic for "The Guardian", who gave the film two out of five stars. While initially looking forward to Blunt's performance, he believed the "black-belt minx" actress was "never really allowed to let rip. All that coiled feline sensuality stay coiled". He thought the queen's relationship with Prince Albert "very, very unsexy", as their devotion "makes for a boring film". Bradshaw did praise the power dynamics around Victoria, but concluded "I spent an hour and three-quarters waiting for this film to start. Where was the tang and the zing and the oomph of Fellowes's cracking script for Robert Altman's "Gosford Park"?"