Starring Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Paz Vega, Derek Jacobi, Geraldine Somerville
Big, dumb “biopic” about a rough period in former movie star turned princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly. Charles De Gaulle is overtaxing her country. The people haven’t embraced her. Her husband is belittling. There’s a spy in her midst. All the stuff of a Lifetime movie, and, alas, the film ended up premiering on Lifetime. Despite a cast of Oscar winners and Oscar nominees, this film is pretty silly. Outside of Moulin Rouge, which I don’t even like, Nicole Kidman has always struggled to combine her glamour roles with substantial film acting; it’s either one or the other. Princess Grace’s descendants have publicly disowned the film, and each scene feels like a fairy tale. That being said, entertaining is a virtue, and it is entertaining. Not a bad or difficult watch despite its 11% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
I hate Moulin Rouge. Am I the only person annoyed that it’s basically a modern version of Guiseppe Verdi’s La Traviata? It’s the exact same story and nobody ever acknowledges this.
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Just looked up La Traviata. You’re right.
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Yeah! And nobody catches that! You’d think somebody would have pointed it out since Guiseppe Verdi is a pretty legendary opera composer. But nobody who ever talks about Moulin Rouge every points this out. I probably only caught because I had to watch La Traviata in college.
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