Total Chick Flick - Not for Men!

Rating: 2/10 (29 April 2010)

As with most period pieces of this nature, the lavish lifestyle of the rich and powerful is portrayed with great accuracy and grandeur. Although The Duchess is a beautiful film to the eye it is dreadfully dull in the minds of men. Just so you know I'm not completely biased against such films, I'd like to mention that I thought The Other Boleyn Girl and Atonement were both very good.
Well then, let me summarize.
Georgiana Spencer is a naive 17 year old girl who is ecstatic about marrying the Duke of Devonshire, who has fallen in "love" with her after only a few brief encounters. Unfortunately, the Duke desperately wanted an heir and was only in "love" with the Spencer women's supposed reputation for bearing male children. Georgiana found herself going from "knowing love" to a loveless marriage. Even on their wedding night, he shows no passion and no tenderness in his love making. He only has a single objective set in his mind. He sleeps with other women without discretion and has an illegitimate daughter with one of his servants.
Alas, her hand is bound by the ring on her finger and her mouth is bound by 18th century social conventions. She is trapped. Georgiana provides the Duke with 2 daughters, but that is insufficient to please him. She finds refuge in fashion and becomes the "it" girl among socialites and commoners alike. And in an age before suffrage, Georgiana is able to wield her influence in fashion into leverage in politics. Her wit and charm is able to dictate modern fashion and sway the allegiance of voters. In particular, she uses her influence to forward the political career of a young member of the Whig Party, Charles Grey. Georgiana and Charles fall madly in love, but are unable to act on their feelings.
Charles isn't the only intimate relationship that keeps Georgiana from drowning. She befriends Bess, a woman who has fled from an abusive husband. After inviting Bess to live with her with the Duke, tensions rise. The Duke and Bess begin sleeping together. Bess begs Georgiana to understand that she is only in this affair to have the Duke force her husband to release their children to her. When her children finally arrive at the Duke's home, the Duke finally shows some humanity while he instructs Bess's son how to shoot a rifle properly. Georgiana tries to bargain a deal where Bess and the Duke can have their affair only if she can have an affair with Charles. Outraged, the Duke chases her down and rapes her. No one is able to do anything.
Finally, Georgiana provides the Duke with a male heir. With the hand of a skilled swordsman, the Duke signs a check to Lady Spencer for Georgiana's completed "duty". Georgiana decides that this is her chance to escape in a love affair of her own. Against her mother's advice, she flees to Bath to meet Charles for a prolonged "vacation". Her affair results in gossip, so the Duke threatens to take her children away and to strip her and Charles of their social status. Georgiana has no other choice than to obey and return to her beautiful prison. She gives birth to another girl, but this one is Charles's illegitimate child and is consequently raised by the Grey family.
The rest is uneventful and is summarized in a few paragraphs at the end of the film, which I lack the enthusiasm to repeat here.
Besides the fact that she is unusually thin, I find Keira Knightley quite beautiful - ravishing even. Perhaps that's the reason I agreed to watch this with little objection. Little did I know I had signed myself up for 220 minutes of torture. Right. The Duchess is only 110 minutes, but I assure you I was watching a much lengthier version of he most inhumane nature. The end is a bit hazy. I must have blacked out from repeatedly banging my head against the empty seat in front of me. Sorry if I come off as a simple-minded brute, but I can also see that the story is enlightening of the times. This film illustrates the great societal pressures on both men and women. Especially women. However, when it comes down to entertainment value, The Duchess is lackluster.
So where did the movie go wrong? I couldn't sympathize or relate to any of the characters. The Duke is a complete ass, Bess is a total bitch, and Georgiana is pitiful. It was too difficult to detach myself from my 21st century values to understand the psyche of upper class Englishmen of from the 18th century. To me, period pieces tend to overplay the suppression of women to get sympathy points that can be cashed out for public catharsis. This just doesn't work well on male viewers. It can be done, but it's rare. Also, the story is completely predictable. Yes, I understand this is based on history, but I hated history in school. Let's face it. Movies aren't the best sources for education, so why not stretch the truth a bit in favor of entertainment? Get the viewer to want to know more. I left wanting to know nothing. The story is objectively compelling, but subjectively mundane. In my mind, The Duchess would play a fantastic role in a Bud Light commercial where the men sneak beer into the theater, high-five, and drink to stave off boredom.
This is truly a Chick Flick. If your boyfriend or husband paid good money to watched this with you, he's a keeper. Especially if that boyfriend is me. ;) Follow my chick flick reviews for men at RatedChick.com