UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

leplatypus This is a period movie with an excellent cast and beautiful production. Unlike lot of others, the story is about a little story in the big one (the fate of a countess) but we can learn a lot of things about the Revolution and Monarchy. We can have also a good glimpse of a true mystery, Cagliostro (read "Rule by secrecy" by Jim Marrs). At last, it's also a thriller because we see a scheme invented, executed and punished. Nonetheless, this movie lacks something to be a real gem (no pun intended). Maybe it's a bit too long and too talkative but as a French living in Paris, the fundamental problem lies in the outdoors location: as soon as the characters go out, we see a Paris that doesn't exist: it's clear that it's Prague (except Versailles or Vaux Le Vicomte or the 1 second shoot of other buildings). But, it's a unusual movie in which the con is planned by a sincere and sympathetic woman and her ordeals can inspire future injustice. By the way, i think to have pick this movie for Eva and she appears only half a second on the sofa scene!..

twilliams76 Woefully miscast and horribly staged, The Affair of the Necklace is the RARE historical, costume drama that I found myself greatly disliking.Necklace is based upon the true-ish story (some liberties were naturally taken with this) of Jeanne de la Motte Valois (Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry, Million Dollar Baby, Amelia) -- a French countess who's title had been stripped from her family by the crown in the late 18th Century (just PRE-Revolution). In hopes of regaining her royal title(s), Jeanne and a trio of men -- her lover (Simon Baker -- The Devil Wears Prada, LA Confidential), her husband (Adrien Brody -- The Pianist, King Kong) and an Italian count (Christopher Walken -- Catch Me If You Can, The Deer Hunter) -- conspire to obtain a priceless necklace that also "catches the eye" of the royal Marie-Antoinette (Joely Richardson - 101 Dalmatians, The Patriot, the "Americanized" Girl with a Dragon Tattoo). It is the queen's pursuit of THIS very necklace that ultimately leads to her very own rapid downfall -- I said there were some liberties/stretches here -- and the destruction of the French aristocracy.As Jeanne isn't a sympathetic character (we can blame some of this on bad writing), The Affair of the Necklace is neither engrossing nor engaging. It became a movie I didn't care about although I LOVED Joely Richardson's powdered bouffant hair-do's here. Even with three Oscar-winning actors in the cast (Brody, Swank and Walken), I cannot recommend this.If I HAD to watch The Affair of the Necklace all over again, I might begin wishing for the same fate that befell that French queen. I'd be asking for the guillotine faster than ...

radkins A great story was wasted by the trivialization of the real account of the theft of the necklace, based on a fictionalized mistreatment of Jeanne Remy de Valois. The woman was a fabulous schemer whose sense of entitlement is world-class. It would have been a great story if the writer had used the real one, instead of the weak screenplay composed using scant facts. The role of the fake Countess La Motte is a scenery chewer worthy of Faye Dunaway in her heydey and I would have loved to have seen Tim Curry assay the Cardinal Rohan character which is equal parts scoundrel and fool. The only victim in the real story is Marie Antoinette, in whose name the scheme is initiated, but who never had any part in the necklace theft - in fact turned it down three times when offered it by the foolhardy jewelers who designed it for the more audacious Madame du Barry, Marie Antoinette's godfather-in-law's mistress. The real interplay of ego and privilege ending in utter tragedy had all the stuff of a fascinating and lively movie. This wasn't it.

Vasco Cid After watching the trailers, knowing the fuss that was made around its sole nomination to the costume design Oscar category, i still wanted to watch this movie as this is totally my type. Furthermore, the cast was also a must see Hilary Swank, Joely Richardson, Bryan Cox, Christopher Walken, Simon Baker and Adrian Brody. Regarding the cast and the movie as a whole my one complaint goes to Hilary Swank herself. I agree with everyone else that she is, in fact a tremendous actress, but i do not agree she is the right choice for this part. She doesn't combine with the image i had of Jeanne; i imagined her to look more fierce, strong-minded and cunning, whereas Swank seems to delicate and fragile in a role that requires for the exact opposite. What she, in fact, succeeds is in creating an enormous chemistry with the other main characters of Adrian Brody and Simon Baker.My complaints aside i think this movie works extremely well considering its main purpose: it isn't supposed to be one of those larger than life Ron Howard-Biopic-straight-to-Oscar-run type of movies; and in all of its (to some extent) modesty it stands far steadier than something called a Brilliant Mind. I do not blame those who liked it (and there were many) but I, personally, didn't. Technically the production has nothing to be pointed at: costumes, sets, cinematography, the soundtrack (pay attention to it) are all first class. Although I'm not particularly fond of Director Charles Shyer's movies, i liked the way he conducted this one, and hand in hand with screenwriter John Sweet theykept the movie flowing with a constant rhythm that makes the movie not seem longer or shorter than it should have been. Some point out some of it's historical accuracy; if only the respect payed to the real events were considered as they were here, we could all go to the movies regularly and believe in those so called actual events. If Jeanne's character wasn't molded in a way that made her seem more caring, the audience would leave the movie not caring for the lead and that's not what's suppose to happen, and it didn't happen here.