Hey there....

Thanks for the interesting review. It's been a while since I've encountered a phrase as amusing as "the limp grappling between Scarlett Johanssen and Penélope Cruz..."

Thanks, also, for sounding the Charlotte Rampling Alert. This household is devoted to her. I had no idea she'd done this new movie.

Charlotte Rampling anecdote: She was on the cover of "Medias" a year or so ago. I was standing in a line, waiting to pay for my copy of the magazine when an American woman (this was in Paris) said to me "She is SOOO gorgeous. I can't believe Woody Allen left her for her own adopted daughter...."

I told her Charlotte Rampling probably wouldn't believe it either.

So much for being famous in America....

Thanks again,

david terry

Hmmm...when the idle rich idled amongst themselves while being totally clueless as to why those pesky colonies hate them...and presumably never really understanding the storm clouds on the horizon.

Although both were part of the Spencer family and thus conspicuously inbred, Diana Spencer wasn't a descendant [note the spelling] of Georgiana Spencer. They were merely distant cousins, several times removed.

Nice job, per usual, Stephanie. But your comment on Mr. Fiennes omits the amazing job he did in "Schindler's List," where he was charged with being as loathsome as evil personified can be as Amon Goeth. While the bulk of the performance probably doesn't have the "humanity" demonstrated in "The Heiress" (which I now can't want to see), I would argue that his nuanced performance near the end of Spielberg's 1993 masterpiece provided more of a human aspect to Nazi commanders than I've seen in the bulk of movies regarding WWII since WWII. So this is not unfamiliar territory for "Rafe" (not Ralph).

Kiera Knightly has been on the path toward this type of terrific role for some time and it's great to hear that she's sunk her teeth into it. But let's give Fiennes his props for once again delivering what I expect to see this caliber of actor demonstrating nearly every time out. (Voldemort included!)

and fall back on gestures and tricks used previously, inappropriate to the character/setting.

I like Keira Knightly well enough ... I thought she did very very well in the TV miniseries version of Dr. Zhivago ... but channel surfing one day, in far too close time proximity, I saw her in one of the Pirates movies and then in Pride and Prejudice ... a juxaposition that shed most unfavorable light on her performance in the latter. I thought she was at her best in her scenes with Darcy or in close talk-listen-talk scenes ... I do believe she has enormous potential ... but she needs a director to keep her enchanting vivacity and enthusiasm within character.

I fear that like Julia Roberts (who rarely evidenced much ambition as an actress even early in her career), Knightly risks becoming a directorial as well as box-office darling -- see also Pacino, DiNiro, Spacey et. al. -- and a predictably dull and shallow actress. In contrast to Zacharek's assessment, the NYT review makes me fear for her.

on the Charlie Rose Show. Although I didn't have time to sit and watch the entire program, I was impressed with her poise and intelligence. I have to agree that there was a bit of mugging in Pride and Prejudice, but, I think the blame for that can be laid to the director, more than to Knightly. There were far too many scenes when the camera was on her face. Too many close ups, held for too long are boring. They choke and slow a movie.

while Geogiana was also "taken up" by the Devonshires who, to this day, own some of the most expensive land in London. Kathleen Kennedy was headstrong and defied her parents by marrying into the English aristocracy. She was even younger than Princess Diana when she too died in tragic circumstances.

As an English lit major in college, I have to say that I absolutely ADORE the English language before... the advanced necrosis of computereese and management managed to water it down to a milktoast "don't offend anyone, don't call a spade a spade, don't use words of more than two syllables (except in government documents, of course), use the passive form as much as possible" idiom for idiots.

I think I will enjoy the Duchess, if I can sink my ears into some real meat and potatoes language. I'll make a note of it.

Although I don't really see how Keira Knightly could ever hold up to someone like Jennifer Ehle for this kind of language. I didn't see her interpretation of Pride and Prejudice for precisely that reason.

...from my fellow readers with regard to Keira Knightley. I thought she was utterly charming in "Pride and Prejudice", and, in fact, I own that movie. (I particularly loved the Bronte-esque flavor of the film. Jane Austen would have probably hated it...Darcy striding across the misty countryside to declare his passion to Lizzy, like some sort of aristocratic Heathcliff. But Bronte novels are more visually and emotionally rich than Austen's, and so more conducive to good film making. Miss Austen will just have to forgive Mr. Wright for the Bronte-fying of her story.)

But I digress. This film sounds like great fun, and I shall see it. Thanks to David Terry (hello, David) for drawing attention to Charlotte Rampling. I saw her the first time as a teenager in a television run of 1966's "Georgy Girl", in which a young and curvaceous Rampling played the role of Meredith next to Lynn Redgrave's Georgy. It was an excellent performance. Aging actresses rarely get their due in movie reviews, the reviewers being so overwhelmed by the young, waifish leads being cast nowadays.

and why not? All the passions are there, the virtues and the vices, the Seven Deadly Sins and the Eight Beatitudes. People haven't changed all that much, regardless of technological innovation. Georgiana Spencer, Kathleen Kennedy, Diana Spencer.....If luck is a lady, she forget her manners in the case of these three women.