Not a Duchbag of a film!

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2010)

Costume period dramas are a constant bore so why should I spend my time unclothing this one literally style. Because "The Duchess" is a pretty good one I must say your highnesses. Keira Knightley stars as Georgiana, the Duchess of the Duke of Devonshire in the 18th Century. However, this Duke and Duchess are not the happy aristocratic couple as they do tend to verbally duke it out from time to time. In fact, they are both opposite ends of the spectrum. Georgiana is charismatic, humorous, and enchanting; while the Duke is lifeless, demanding, and egotistical. His only concern with the Duchess is for her to labor a son to be his heir. When the Duchess can only deliver junior duchesses and no mini-Dukes, the Duke chaos follows. Not to mention, the Duchess longs for a charming politician named Charles Grey, but the Duke makes it very difficult for the Duchess to fall into The Grey Zone. Director Saul Dibb does not dibble dabble too much with the same ol' period piece plot. Dibb does a stellar job in characterizing the protagonists so the focus is not primarily focused on the usual elaborate art direction and whopping costumes of most period pieces. Not to say Dibb did not have some help in accomplishing this by hatching out handsomely to Screenwriter Jeffery Hatcher appealing script of the film. Knightley's commanding performance as Georgiana was of extraordinaire reign. Keira is quickly becoming the acting queen of the period piece genre. Ralph Fiennes was pitch perfect as El Duque. And there were some nice thespian supporting touches by Charlotte Rampling as Georgiana's selfish mother Lady Spencer (for hire to have her daughter marry the Duke), and Dominic Cooper as the aforementioned Charles "Not in Charge" Grey. So my concluding exclamation is that "The Duchess" is one surprising period film that makes its mark! **** Good