One drawn out shot after another...it looks good, but just drags on and on.

Rating: 5/10 (23 September 2009)

Marie Antoinette has never been a sympathetic character in the history books, and it's always been said that she deserves what came to her for spending too much money and being arrogant. In this reinvisioning (or perhaps it's partially how it actually happened) Antoinette just becomes a relateable and somewhat likable character. Sofia Coppola decided to make this feel more modern by adding contemporary music, and this might make the queen more relateable. But instead, it just drags the movie out with long scenes of music and no dialogue. For a film that is in essence a character piece (as nothing else happens but mild character development), there just isn't enough dialogue to develop much at all.
For the plot of this film, it's pretty much just the story of Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) and the story of her life. Her failed sex life with King Louis XVI and her shaking up of the role of the queen. It's a new take on the history lesson, but like an overly long history lecture, this grows very tiring.
This film completely relies on aesthetic pleasures. The sights and cinematography are very pleasing to the eyes, and there are some beautiful shots. The music is overly plentiful and featured in every scene, but often times the music, though contemporary, is fitting. The problem is every scene uses this music. Five lines will be said and then the film breaks into music for several minutes. Some of these scenes can be chalked up to character development by pondering and looking at the world. They can be considered reflective scenes, but it's just an excuse to show their nice sets and play some music and write no dialogue.
The performances are fine, though purposefully inaccurate. Dunst uses an American accent, as does Jason Schwartzman, and nobody seems to use a French accent at all. Not a mistake, just part of the reinvisioning.
Overall, this movie is too long, and there's too much music, and despite some nice scenes, and great looks, this film literally has nothing else going for it.
My rating: ** out of ****. 120 mins. PG-13 for sexuality.