My Review of Mr Burton (2025)

 

Written by Tom Bullough And Josh Hyams

Directed by Marc Evans

Richard: "Mr Burton, I want to be an actor."

Released around this time last year and airing on BBC1 a few months ago, I had wanted to watch this one. I'm not going to declare myself as a Richard Burton fan but I'm intrigued by certain classic actors of old.

Usually when we get biopics depicting him, it's in his later years and often focusing on his relationship, one in particular. This biopic however was more focused on the events that led to a boy from a Welsh mining background into becoming the actor he did.

In particular this movie focused on Richard Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) as a student in Port Talbot. He was a sporty kid with a strained family relationship, though he was shown to be living with older sister, Cis (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and her family. He didn't particularly get along with Cis's husband.

A man whom Richard did get along with a teacher and mentor named Philip Burton (Toby Jones). The latter saw something in Richard and even adopted him in order to help Richard get further along in his acting career.

Richard's acting was definitely a source of exploration in the movie. He's clearly a talented actor but needed help with his diction and even playing certain scenes with less intensity. He took some of this board but was shown to be prone to lashing out when the pressure got too much to him.

The dynamic between Richard and Philip really anchored this movie. Both men brought out the best in one another and there's a sad moment when Richard turned on Philip. Add in the mix, Philip's landlady and friend, Ma Smith (Lesley Manville) and there's a lovely found family dynamic between the three characters. 

- Richard's romance with women was a little explored here, though the focus was on his acting career.

- There's some good performances from Matthew Gravelled and Daniel Evans as Sir Cyril Cooke and Anthony Quayle. Aneurin Barnard, Steffan Rhodri and Hannah New also appeared.

- The movie did alluded to Philip's sexuality while focusing on his writing career.

- Chronology: 1940s, Port Talbot in Wales for the most part. The movie got released to coincide with centenary passing of Richard's birth.

Mr Burton turned out to be a delightful film. Both Harry Lawtey and Toby Jones are on great form and both truly compliment each other. It's a nice exploration of the student/mentor dynamic along class division, aspirations and family. 

Rating: 8 out of 10