Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz

Rating: 6/10 (12 October 2008)

Greetings again from the darkness. The film fascination with Royalty continues thanks to the coolness of costumes and the grand scale of palaces. Of course, a thread-thin relation to Princess Diana doesn't hurt at all either.
Somehow the man's world of the Duke of Devonshire, played by Ralph Fiennes, allowed for multiple affairs even to the extreme of having one's favorite side dish just move right on in to the main house ... including meals with the Royal couple!! It would be quite funny, if not so sad.
Keira Knightley plays the Duchess with fortitude and the proper amount of reservation. She has become quite adept at the period piece. Fiennes, on the other hand, plays the Duke as if he has a constant stomach ache and is in need of Alka-Seltzer. He totally lacks charisma or even many human traits, save lust for those other than his wife. The third wheel who is promoted to second is played well by Hayley Atwell, a desperate and alternatingly cold and warm mother and friend. Rounding out the cast are Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia) who plays future Prime Minister Charles Grey, and the true love of The Duchess' life; and Charlotte Rampling as the too proud mother to Knightley, who dispenses very weak advice with a stiff upper lip.
The film is well done and the similarities to Princess Diana's marriage are inescapable, but there is just not quite enough substance here. Easy enough to watch, but lacking in historical details ... more of a soap opera approach.