Revolting.

Rating: 2/10 (28 October 2006)

A film in which an entire nation comes together in revolutionary circumstances and violently overthrows its ruling class and installs a new government which in turn implodes amidst massive blood-letting on both sides and featuring some of the largest characters in all world history (Marat? Richelieu?).
Not that you see any of that, nor the way in which these events affected Marie Antoinette's behaviour, attitudes or life.
It's under-scripted, bereft of purpose (saving banal posturing from the lead - poor Kirsten Dunst has nothing to work with), lacking editing and falling guilty of the worst cinematic crime: being entirely unengaging.
And despite the clear investment in costume, the film still looks cheap and lacks any discernible elegance (anyone who argues that this is the point must have a different idea of opulent pre-revolution France to me).
It's a horrible film, based on only the flimsiest writing and serves only as an enormous ego-vehicle for the director.
Going back to the plotting, if somebody made a film about Hitler and chose to focus entirely on his road-building projects, we would savage the piece as indulgent, selective and stupid. All of those adjectives might apply here.