Review of The Queen of Versailles (2012) by Nate W — 29 Nov 2012

"The Queen of Versailles" tracks the 'riches to rags' story (although 'rags' is a hell of an exaggeration) of the Siegel family, one of America's wealthy elite, as the recession challenges the ludicrously ostentatious lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. The documentary does not attempt to elicit our sympathy for the obscenely rich, but it does attempt to humanize them, becoming a shrewd and ultimately sad dismantlement of the American Dream.

The opening third of "The Queen of Versailles" is infuriating and laughable in equal measure as it presents the Siegels living within the vacuum of luxury and power, seemingly oblivious or simply indifferent to how they must come across to the other 99% of the world. We gape in outrage at the decadent indulgences and frivolities on which they spend, including the under-construction Versailles, the single largest private home in America. And we laugh in disbelief because they virtually appear as caricatures of themselves: David Siegel, founder of Westgate Resorts, the world's biggest time-share enterprise, literally delivers his interview while seated on a golden throne. His wife Jackie, a busty former beauty queen nearly 30 years his junior, prattles on about every vain extravagance that fills her life - and her soon-to-be palace. One the eight Siegel children prophetically mentions, "you don't have to worry about money, but at the same time you kinda do.".

Indeed, the ridiculous spending would have to end. The economic crisis of 2008 meant that average Americans could no longer afford to vacation at fancy time-shares, thus stopping the flow of money that powered the Siegels' life. This previously happy-looking couple begin to show their true colors when they go from haves to have-lesses. What's dejecting is not that they're suddenly less rich, but how emotionally dependent on money these people have become. David Siegel confesses that business is the only true love in his life, and becomes increasingly distant and depressed as the film trudges on. Jackie continues to put on a botox-induced smile, but one can't help but detect a sense of denial about her new situation.