Anna and the King

The hallucinatory lies of 19th-century British imperialist Anna Leonowens smear again the people of Thailand, in a production both dumb and dull, where nothing much of interest takes place, and what does take place isn’t rooted in anything real. Chow Yun-Fat’s quietly authoritative performance as King Mongkut is the best thing the picture has going for it, while Jodie Foster essays Leonowens as Mary Poppins with a stick up her bum.