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The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
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Reviews Counted:19
Fresh:5
Rotten:14
Average Rating:4.5/10
Consensus: A film about court intrigue, The Affair of the Necklace turns out to be more dull than juicy. Swank seems flat and miscast in the central role of Jeanne.
Theatrical Release:Nov 30, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: This tale of intrigue and corruption is based on a true account of 18th Century French noblewoman Jeanne de la Motte-Valois (played by Oscar-winner Hilary Swank), whose family has been dispossessed... This tale of intrigue and corruption is based on a true account of 18th Century French noblewoman Jeanne de la Motte-Valois (played by Oscar-winner Hilary Swank), whose family has been dispossessed of status and title by the king. To restore honor to her name, not to mention reclaim her family estate, Jeanne must have her lineage officially authenticated at the court of Versailles. After several unsuccessful attempts to obtain an audience with Marie Antoinette (Joely Richardson), Jeanne finds an ally in male courtesan Rétaux de la Villette (Simon Baker), who advises her to try and gain influence at court by attracting a wealthy sponsor: Cardinal Rohan (Jonathan Pryce), a ruthless man whose appetite for women is only exceeded by his appetite for power. Aided by Villette, her estranged husband Nicolas (Adrien Brody), and an enigmatic foreign mystic, Count Cagliostro (Christopher Walken), Jeanne becomes embroiled in an elaborate scheme involving the cardinal, the queen, and the theft of a priceless diamond necklace. Director Charles Shyer's opulent costume drama, set against a backdrop of increasing civil unrest in pre-revolutionary France, was filmed in Prague and on location at Versailles. [More]
Starring: Hilary Swank, Simon Baker, Adrien Brody, Jonathan Pryce
Starring: Hilary Swank, Simon Baker, Adrien Brody, Jonathan Pryce, Joely Richardson, Christopher Walken, Brian Cox, Paul Brooke, Peter Eyre
Director: Charles Shyer
Director: Charles Shyer
Screenwriter: John Sweet
Producer: Redmond Morris, Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Milena Canonero
Composer: David Newman
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for The Affair of the Necklace
The film has a desperate, disjointed feel that suggests the filmmakers realized it wasn't working and kept trying, ineffectually, to fix it.
The entire film seems a series of disjointed pieces, a screenful of iron filings waiting in vain for the magnet that will line them up in a unified field.
Shyer's film denies us the double dip of vice and virtue. It's moralistic.
The storytelling is hopelessly compromised by the movie's decision to sympathize with Jeanne.
Hilary Swank and Simon Baker make an especially attractive couple who have several electrifying moments onscreen.
Shyer ... exhibits little flair for the ebb and flow of a costume caper movie.
I'm sure that it's sort of a 'Fractured Fairy Tale' version of the real events that happened, but the fact that it was inspired by real-life events made me enjoy it all the more.
No matter how ornate or magnificent a strand of jewels might be, it's not the most effective device to pin a story on.
[Swank's] out of her league here and her tendency to underplay -- as if she were afraid of the material and didn't want to risk anything flamboyant or bold -- makes her performance seem tentative, half-felt.
This is a good example of what can happen when a bunch of grownup humans who really ought to know better get funny ideas about art.
The Affair of the Necklace drags and meanders when it wants clarity and clockwork, and bogs down in hazy, vague emotions.
The Affair of the Necklace is no paperback romance or swashbuckler it at first appears to be, but rather the remarkable odyssey of a young woman who lived to tell her amazing story herself.
There's no fury to the movie, repressed or otherwise, which may be why when the Revolution arrives, it has all the impact of a guillotine with a deadly dull blade.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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