Grace Kelly captured the imaginations and adoring stares of
fans around the world when she was an actress in Hollywood. The go to girl for
director Alfred Hitchcock it’s hard to believe she only starred in just 30
films. But Kelly gave up her career for a real crown when she married Prince
Rainier of Monaco and move to that country.
GRACE OF MONACO deals with the changes Kelly faced when she
arrived rather than her life prior. Focusing on her trying to decide if she
should have a career and be the wife of the Prince or if she should be there
for him and serving beside him to care for her newly adopted country is the
focus of this film. It takes place during hard times for Monaco as France is
forcing increasing demands on the country which is still considers itself owner
of.
The movie has a sort of pinball feel to it, bouncing from
one subject to the next and then back again. First we watch as Kelly must learn
just what her place in Monaco’s society is, what is expected of her, how she
should behave. Then we find her trying to decide if she should return to acting
or not. Bam, we’re watching the rulers of Monaco battle about what they should
do about France. Then Kelly is brought into the mix by the end of the film, a
tribute to the real Grace Kelly but one that leaves you wondering how much
truth there is in what is portrayed.
Nicole Kidman stars as Kelly with a performance that one
assumes was lost on the cutting room floor. Kidman is a skilled actress and
scenes in this film work marvelously. But the way they are edited together
makes it seem to be helter skelter rather than a straight on performance. Tim
Roth feels wasted here and more one note than I’ve seen him before giving no
life to Rainier. This feels no way the fault of Roth but more of the script and
directing involved.
With the source material available it would seem like the
story of Grace Kelly would be ripe for a biographical movie to be made. TV
movies have been done but not theatrical releases that I’m aware of. But while
this film is promoted as her story it almost feels like the movie was built
around her but focusing instead on the political machinations of the country as
well as France, a slight of hand promising one thing and delivering another.
The pacing is slow, the editing jumbled and the look a poor
tribute to the time the film takes place in. Truth be told more than one time I
found myself beginning to doze and had to back up the disc to see what I had
missed. Even after doing so it didn’t feel like I missed that much. Perhaps this
movie would be good for a rental to be watched early on and not near bedtime.
Then again if you’re having problems getting to sleep it could solve that with
no problem.
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