Review of Grace of Monaco (2014) by Bradley H — 08 Aug 2015

I had assumed this was going to be a movie star biopic , and I rather like movie star biopics, ( Chaplin etc ) even those made for TV ones. I wasn't expecting much, just a nostalgic trip into old Hollywood and some nice shots of Monaco, probably topped off with a state funeral.

That's not what you get here, you get a tale of political history ( I've no idea if it's based on fact and quite frankly I don't care), Grace Kelly's input into the affairs of state can really only be guessed at and as a fan of her movie career quite frankly, " I don't give a damn".

Nicol Kidman is truly aweful here ( and I usually admire her work) , she's stiff as a board , she's painfully aware she's nothing like Grace Kelly in any way, a fact the director is continually enphasising by shooting only parts of her face ( as if to say " this may help you think it really is Grace Kelly") this just gets embarrassing .

The will she, won't she, story about her appearing in Marnie is drawn out too, we know she doesn't so why go on about it, and I've always understood Rainier put his foot down and told her she couldn't play a cleptomaniac murderess ( not mentioned in this film but a more plausible explanation than the one put forward here).

So if you want to watch a film about how Nicol Kidman saved the royal family of Monaco, you might just enjoy this, but if you want to watch a biopic of Grace Kelly there are better ones out there.