The Duchess

Saul Dibb

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The Duchess

Synopsis

A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.

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Cast

Keira KnightleyGeorgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Ralph FiennesDuke of Devonshire
Charlotte RamplingLady Spencer
Dominic CooperCharles Grey
Hayley AtwellBess Foster
Simon McBurneyCharles Fox
Aidan McArdleRichard Brinsley Sheridan
John ShrapnelGeneral Grey
Alistair PetrieHeaton
Patrick GodfreyDr. Neville

Recommendations

83
The A.V. Club
Thoroughly populist and middlebrow, full of all the high wigs, thick powder, perfect diction, and straightforward dialogue that define bodice-ripping prestige pictures about silently suffering souls.
75
Entertainment Weekly
Fiennes speaks with his body what the script cannot formulate about what it's like to be a man apart. The actor creates particulars of time, space, class, and personality with one crook of a finger, one twist of a wrist. I call that nobility of craft; he's the actors' prince.
75
Rolling Stone
It's Knightley who makes The Duchess a royal treat.
70
The Hollywood Reporter
Keira Knightley is a terrific choice to play the 18th century socialite.
60
Variety
A serviceable picture that offers all the sumptuous visual pleasures of a historical costume drama, yet little in the way of actual history.
60
NPR
Director Saul Dibb, presumably knowing that this is pretty standard stuff for a costume epic, occupies us not just with the usual visuals -- of his star drifting through exquisitely furnished estates, draped in rich silks and brocades -- but also with some intriguingly offbeat sights.
50
ReelViews
It has impeccable production values but feels like a "Masterpiece Theater" production of a Harlequin romance novel.
50
Village Voice
As a tale of mature self-sacrifice, the movie would be almost unbearably moving were it not for Knightley's insubstantial performance, which allows her to be fatally upstaged by Ralph Fiennes.