In The Affair
of the Necklace, Oscar Winner Hilary Swank stars as Jeanne de
la Motte-Valois, a French woman involved in one of the biggest
European scandals
of the 18th Century.
Although
she is from a family that has a direct lineage to King Henry
II who was ruler of France during the 16th Century, Jeanne’s
parents fall out of
favor with the Royal court and lose their nobility and wealth.
She becomes
and orphan and dedicates her life to reclaiming her family’s
name and privilege among the royalty of Versailles.
First
she marries a count to gain access to the palace. Then she
recruits a court gigolo for inside information on the royal
elite. Still, Jeanne is
ignored and getting nowhere fast. Her only option left is
to somehow obtain lots of cash to buy back her honor which
includes her family’s estate.
When she
finds out that the Royal Jewelers are stuck with a huge 2,800
carat, 647-daimond necklace that if they don’t unload
it soon will bankrupt them, Jeanne comes up with an elaborate
mischievous scheme to steal
it.
She convinces
the shady Cardinal of France of the lie that Queen Marie Antoinette
wants him to front the money for the necklace in order to
keep the purchase secret so as not to upset the public enraged
by her
excesses.
The Cardinal
wanting to win back the Queen’s favor so she and King
Louis XVI can make him prime minister falls for it and goes
along.
The end
result is that the necklace lands in Jeanne’s hands.
She sells the diamonds and gets her family’s estate back
but not for long.
Supposedly
this movie is based on a true story that was so scandalous
that it might have been one of the causes of the French revolution.
With a
tale full of decadence, revenge, greed, corruption and twisted
demented characters, you would think that this movie has enough
ingredients to keep you entertained till the end. No such
luck.
The Affair
of the Necklace falls apart from the beginning and never recovers.
Bad script, acting, directing and casting don’t help
either. The actors
are playing French people but decide to put on British accents.
Director
Charles Shyer drags the plot out with very slow pacing and
fails to captivate the audience in the least bit.
Boredom
seeps in rapidly and continues to prevail throughout with
not even a glimmer of hope for a brief moment of enjoyment.
It’s
one of those movies that you as yourself or your friends-what
were they thinking? You might not want to know the answer
to that question.
Even if
you are an insomniac, this film won’t help you much.
Awake or asleep, The Affair of the Necklace is a total disaster.
Gil Benzeevi
RATING: 1.5
out of 5
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