A Bone-Toss to the Grown-Ups!

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2008)

Moviegoers looking for "Death Race 2000" or "Saw XVII" might not warm-up to "The Dutchess" but grown-ups aged 13 and above might appreciate a good movie that isn't juvenile.
Done in the best BBC tradition, the film beautifully tells the colorful story of the Dutchess of Devonshire and the sexual interplays among the ultra rich and spoiled. Keira Knightly is superb, but so is Ralph Finnes -- even though he's required to play a person you'll most likely hold in contempt.
I met Ralph Finnes (fine) briefly in New York. Most screen actors appearing on Broadway are taken to their hotels or homes in a Mercedes or a limo; but not Finnes. He comes out dressed like an ordinary guy, with a shoulder-bag, and jogs down to the Subway. How different from the snob he plays in this movie.
We saw this under ideal conditions in Washington DC's historic 1921 AVALON THEATRE, not in the sandbox atmosphere of a multiplex.