2 Days in ParisRelease Date: October 10Director: Saul DibbWriters: Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders
Thomas Jensen, Saul DibbCinematographer: Gyula PadosStarring: Keira Knightley, Ralph
Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte RamplingStudio/Running Time: Paramount
Vantage, 110 mins.
Hollywood can’t seem to get enough of
Keira Knightley, treating her like some sort of thoroughbred athlete
whose most productive years are right now. With the The Duchess,
Knightley has now appeared in more than 20 films since her role as
Amidala’s handmaiden in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I - The
Phantom Menace. And like a fourth-quarter tailback, the more she
runs, the better she gets as she convincingly demonstrates in The
Duchess.2 Days in ParisAfter the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph
Fiennes) selects the teen Georgiana (Knightley) to be his wife, she
quickly becomes a star to the citizens of the British empire,
especially with the up and coming Whig party. Everyone adores her
except, apparently, her husband, who not only frequently and brazenly
adulterizes, but also expects his young wife to raise the daughter of
one of his now-deceased dalliances. To make matters worse, she is
failing at what he deems to be Georgiana’s most important role:
providing the duke with a male heir. It’s enough to drive a duchess
to drink, gamble and dabble in a little extra-curricular romance of
her own, all of which she does, sometimes to the extreme and
definitely to the detriment of the duke.
Based on a true story, Knightley shines
in her outrages of injustice, both in her character’s personal life
and in the political climate of 17th century England. As she finally
goes head to head with the duke, waves of tension, fury and despair
alternately pour out of the screen with two of many award-worthy
performances in the film, including that of Hayley Atwell as the
live-in friend and lover to both the duke and duchess.
In the end it may not be much more than
a glorified, period-piece soap opera (with better outfits) that
possibly could have been improved upon with more attention to the
duchess’ role in England’s progressive new government, but with
riveting performances like these, who cares?