It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

Rating: 10/10 (12 October 2008)

Despite the flack on this film being compared with the exploits of Lady Diana,Princess of Wales, I found this a most fulfilling piece of period cinema. Anyone who gets their groove on (or ever got their groove on)with any of the Merchant/Ivory adaptations of English costume dramas from the 1980's will certainly be knocked head over heels here. Saul Dibb has crafted a finely told tale of an arranged marriage destined to be a bad one. Keira Knightley absolutely shines as Georgiana Spencer (who was,in fact was to be a far distant cousin to Lady Di),Duchess of Devonshire. Ralph Fiennes, as the Duke manages to pull down yet another winning portrait of a cold,loveless,womanizing bastard with no feeling for anyone for himself & his dogs. If you like your period costume dramas that go right for the heart strings, this one is for you. Rated PG-13,this film serves up some brief nudity, adult situations & a rather disturbing scene of abuse.