The Affair of the Necklace Movie Review:


In The Affair of the Necklace, Oscar Winner Hilary Swank stars as Jeanne de la Motte-Valois, a French woman involved in one of the biggest European scandals
of the 18th Century.

Although she is from a family that has a direct lineage to King Henry II who was ruler of France during the 16th Century, Jeanne’s parents fall out of
favor with the Royal court and lose their nobility and wealth.

She becomes and orphan and dedicates her life to reclaiming her family’s name and privilege among the royalty of Versailles.

First she marries a count to gain access to the palace. Then she recruits a court gigolo for inside information on the royal elite. Still, Jeanne is
ignored and getting nowhere fast. Her only option left is to somehow obtain lots of cash to buy back her honor which includes her family’s estate.

When she finds out that the Royal Jewelers are stuck with a huge 2,800 carat, 647-daimond necklace that if they don’t unload it soon will bankrupt them, Jeanne comes up with an elaborate mischievous scheme to steal
it.

She convinces the shady Cardinal of France of the lie that Queen Marie Antoinette wants him to front the money for the necklace in order to keep the purchase secret so as not to upset the public enraged by her
excesses.

The Cardinal wanting to win back the Queen’s favor so she and King Louis XVI can make him prime minister falls for it and goes along.

The end result is that the necklace lands in Jeanne’s hands. She sells the diamonds and gets her family’s estate back but not for long.

Supposedly this movie is based on a true story that was so scandalous that it might have been one of the causes of the French revolution.

With a tale full of decadence, revenge, greed, corruption and twisted demented characters, you would think that this movie has enough ingredients to keep you entertained till the end. No such luck.

The Affair of the Necklace falls apart from the beginning and never recovers. Bad script, acting, directing and casting don’t help either. The actors
are playing French people but decide to put on British accents.

Director Charles Shyer drags the plot out with very slow pacing and fails to captivate the audience in the least bit.

Boredom seeps in rapidly and continues to prevail throughout with not even a glimmer of hope for a brief moment of enjoyment.

It’s one of those movies that you as yourself or your friends-what were they thinking? You might not want to know the answer to that question.

Even if you are an insomniac, this film won’t help you much. Awake or asleep, The Affair of the Necklace is a total disaster.

Gil Benzeevi

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