The Duchess (2008/Paramount Blu-ray + DVD-Video)

 

Picture: B/C+     Sound: B/C+     Extras: C-     Film: C-

 

 

It seems like we are getting a record number of costume period pieces and they are starting to wear thin, as exemplified by the The Duchess, a predictable, formulaic, flat, Barry Lyndon-lite tale (based on a true story, but it had to be more interesting than this) about the title character (Keira Knightley) and her miserable marriage that can only get worse to a rich man, played with nothing new to offer by Ralph Fiennes.

 

Charlotte Rampling and stars in this feels-longer-than-109 minutes exercise in stuffy British TV as a feature film and though I believe much of what happened her happened in real life, you think the filmmakers could have found a better, newer, different, more challenging way to tell the tale.  Instead, it is barely above a TV movie.

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image looks a little weaker than expected including its intentionally muted colors (done digitally to its detriment) and the anamorphically enhanced widescreen version on the DVD is that much softer.  There is some money on the screen, including in costumes, so it is a shame they degraded it all.  The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is not great, but this is recorded well enough, but don’t expect much outside of ambiance in the soundfield.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD is much weaker.  Extras include a few featurettes and an interview, but not much else.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo