waste of money

Rating: 1/10 (22 October 2006)

"Clueless meets Barry Lyndon" with neither the wit of Alicia Silverstone nor the cinematography of Stanley Kubric.
Marie Antoinette is an unsuccessful mix of contemporary music, plain language, amateurish cinematic directing, and very poor editing. While well photographed and properly acted, the combination of painfully long shots and banal dialogue made for a two hour movie that seemed to run four hours. Some scenes such as the carriage ride to France, shots of Versailles, and many of Kristin reminded me of watching paint dry. Other shots looked like home movies with pans that went nowhere and added nothing to the narrative. If this had been an Indy film, it may have been excusable as a good first effort. However, this was a major release with minor efforts in many key areas  a waste of money both in the studio and at the box office.
Lastly, the movie kept all the visceral aspects of the French Revolution far from the audience just at the French government kept it from the royal couple. Unfortunately, it did not translate into viewer empathy for either Ms. Dunst, who was hardly convincing as a 14-year old, or Mr. Schwartzman, a clear candidate for the role of Nero in a G-rated remake of Caligula.
Sofia needs to take some more lessons from her dad in the art of making a major release.