The Trial of Tony Blair (2007)

The year is 2010 and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is summoned to the Hague to face war crimes charges over his involvement in the Iraq invasion. That's the premise of The Trial of Tony Blair, a satirical Channel 4 telemovie first broadcast in 2007.

The Trial of Tony Blair's "what if?" premise is an intriguing notion, reminiscent of the conceit of faux-documentary Death of a President. However, The Trial of Tony Blair eschews any kind of realism for blatantly opinionated farce. It's a missed opportunity to delve into the mind of the embittered former PM. The film is a political mouthpiece and nothing more.

The Trial of Tony Blair begins with Blair (Robert Lindsay) handing over power to Gordon Brown in the run-up to the 2010 general election. Lindsay's Blair is a far-fetched caricature of the man, obsessed with his own legacy and increasingly tortured over his hand in the war in Iraq. It's a worthwhile performance, but, in light of the script, Lindsay's Blair is reduced to a buffoon of a man. (In the apparent interests of balance, Alexander Armstrong cameos as an out-of-touch David Cameron, but his appearances are too fleeting and disconnected to mask the film's political agenda.)

With Brown elected, Blair spends his days lost, waiting for phone calls from the likes of Bill Gates and Hillary Clinton (who has been elected President of the United States). He longs for the power and importance of his previous position. Cherie Blair, played coldly by Phoebe Nicholls, also becomes discontent with her new life. As it becomes increasingly likely that Tony Blair will face trial, the political forces that brought him to power and that now lie in the hands of others begin to turn against him.

There are plenty of elements the film gets right. Blair and Brown's abhorrence for each other is engaging stuff, particularly when Brown decides to hang Blair out to dry in an attempt to distance himself from the Blair/Bush era of politics. Later in the film, Blair is called to the US embassy hopeful of being offered some kind of position, only to be told that Hillary Clinton, who is due to embark on her second term campaign, will be spouting some nasty things about Blair in order to similarly disassociate herself from the war in Iraq – even though the US will continue to support Blair at the Hague.

When The Trial of Tony Blair makes these kind of jabs at the political scene, it really hits the mark; it's a dirty world where enemies can be anywhere. As if to illustrate this, there's a terrific scene in which Gordon Brown (a pouty Peter Mullan) is put in his place by a pair of children during a media tour of a primary school ("Are you the one my dad says is a born loser?" one child innocently asks).

Though the satire is mostly painted with far too broad strokes, when the movie arrives at the event in its title, the filmmakers skip off without exploring the trial itself. The movie's obvious political stance leaves little doubt as to how the trial would have turned out, but at a brisk 72 minutes, The Trial of Tony Blair feels like it's missing the vital third act.

Where Death of a President presented a bold, compelling and – crucially – neutral examination of a world leader's decisions, The Trial of Tony Blair takes the easy road to deliver a film that, while entertaining, is disappointingly shallow in its execution.