Intelligently written, superbly acted, beautiful to look at and happily free of anachronisms.
Comment
10/10/08
The Duchess (2008)
68
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:23
Rotten:11
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: While The Duchess treads the now-familiar terrain of the corset-ripper, the costumes look great and Keira Knightley's performance is stellar in this subtly feminist, period drama.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $13,823,741
Synopsis: After PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and ATONEMENT, Keira Knightley continues her reign as the queen of the period film with this 18th-century costume drama. The corset-clad actress stars as Georgiana... [More]
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper
Director: Saul Dibb
Reviews for The Duchess
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticKnightley, whose glamorous reputation has outstripped her acting talents until now, is subjected to a barrage of close-ups, which could have been disastrous. Yet it isn't. In this one, she really comes of age.
10/10/08
Top CriticA mature, restrained portrayal from Knightley, a masterclass in passive aggression from Fiennes and a performance of tender seduction from Atwell.
10/03/08
Top CriticThe film's real power lies with Knightley. She easily could have gone over the emotional top, but instead gives a measured performance that increasingly draws you in.
10/03/08
Top CriticA handsome costume drama that highlights the relationship between the Cinderella outfits and the restrictive privilege of the society from whence they came.
10/03/08
Top CriticKnightley seems overly deliberate even in her mischief, and doesn't have Kirsten Dunst's talent for turning acting into a flirtatious game of charades.
10/03/08
Top CriticKeira Knightley is really splendid...
10/03/08
Top CriticFocuses far too much on the cold accuracy of details than actually emotionally involving the audience in the story. Sumptuous but barren
09/29/08
Top CriticIt seems Princess Diana was not the only royal whose marriage comprised three people. This cinematic and emotionally potent drama set in the 18th century and based on a true story, looks at a menage a trois that is filled with compelling elements
09/28/08
Top CriticMouth watering scandal, a juicy love triangle and high powered men behaving badly make this a solid drama about character and society in 18th century England
09/28/08
Top CriticIt is easy to become immersed in the plight of these characters whose story is profoundly moving and satisfying.
09/26/08
Top CriticIt chronicles the saga of a vibrant and forward-thinking woman hampered by the constraints of a rigid society.
10/18/08
Top CriticNow that he seems past his fey middle period, Ralph Fiennes is doing some amazingly good work onscreen.
10/03/08
Top CriticThe Duchess is a handsome historical film, impeccably mounted, gowned, wigged and feathered.
09/25/08
Top CriticPrincess Di deserves livelier revisionism.
09/19/08
Top CriticThanks to Fiennes, we come to understand the enigmatic duke as the immovable object deeply perplexed at having to contend with the unstoppable force that is his wife. It is a quietly complex performance almost beyond words.
09/19/08
Top CriticThe Duchess is an overstuffed, intellectually underbaked portrait of a poor little rich girl.
09/19/08
Top CriticDibb's movie looks good, but there is something exasperatingly bland and slow-moving at all times. Unlike the heroine, he never takes much of a risk.
09/05/08
Top CriticFor beneath the hype and tabloid traction, the movie is dramatically flaccid.
09/05/08
Top CriticFor Knightley the part fits like a corset - it’s an enigmatic, free-spirited turn and a role she’ll be remembered for, probably her best role to date in a film not directed by Joe Wright.
09/05/08
Top Critic1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Latest News for The Duchess
January 07, 2009:
People's Choice Awards Winners Announced
The 35th annual People's Choice Awards were handed out on January 7, 2009. A complete list of film nominees, with winners in bold, follows below. More...
January 03, 2009:
Not just another royal goddess in a gilded cage costume drama, the film couldn't be more current now, when women bidding for the highest political offices are told to go home and take care of their kids or iron male shirts. Sexual subversion in corsets. 
More...
December 28, 2008:
Not just another royal goddess in a gilded cage costume drama, the film couldn't be more current now, when women bidding for the highest political offices are told to go home and take care of their kids or iron male shirts. Sexual subversion in corsets.
More...
October 12, 2008:
Emarketingmag.com: Not just another royal goddess in a gilded cage costume drama, the film couldn't be more current now, when women bidding for the highest political offices are told to go home and take care of their kids or iron male shirts.
More...
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