Grace of Monaco (2014)

Number Rolled: 53

Movie Name/Year: Grace of Monaco (2014)

Tagline: The greatest role Grace Kelly would ever play.

Genre: Drama, Biography

Length: 102 minutes

Rating: NR

Production Companies: Stone Angels, YRF Entertainment, Umedia, Lucky Red, TF1 Films Production, Canal+, Gaumont, Od Shots, Silver Reel, uFilm

Producer: Arash Amel, Claudia Bluemhuber, Jeremy Burdek, Uday Chopra, Florian Dargel, Uta Fredebeil, Irene Gall, Didier Hoarau, Bill Johnson, Nadia Khamlichi, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Stéphane Lhoest, Stefano Massenzi, Martin Metz, Andrea Occhipinti, Adrian Politowski, Jonathan Reiman, Jim Seibel, Bastien Sirodot, Gilles Waterkeyn, Bruno Wu

Director: Olivier Dahan

Writer: Arash Amel

Actors: Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Frank Langella, Paz Vega, Parker Posey, Milo Ventimiglia, Geraldine Somerville, Nicholas Farrell, Robert Lindsay, Derek Jacobi, Andre Penvern, Jeanne Balibar, Flora Nicholson, Olivier Rabourdin

Stunts: Jean-Claude Lagniez, Julien Piguet

Languages

Speech Available: English

Subtitles Available: English, Spanish

Blurb from Netflix: While weighing an offer to resume her career in Hollywood, Grace Kelly -- now the Princess of Monaco -- helps her country in a dispute with France.

Selina’s Point of View:

I didn’t think I’d enjoy this film much, but it was pretty good. I don’t know how much of the story is true, though. I’m not exactly a history buff. I could check Wikipedia, but that’s not really the most reliable of sources, is it?

So, the most I can say about the story is that it was one worth telling and worth watching.

That said, the rest of the film was lovely as well. I know that’s a strange way for me to describe a film, but ‘lovely’ is the best word I could use.

The director, Olivier Dahan (Ghost River, La Vie en Rose, My Own Love Song), set the film up in such a way that it accented the time period through camera work and coloration. The word ‘lovely’ simply feels like the best way to describe the poise and visual presence of Grace Kelly and, the actress that played her in this film, Nicole Kidman (Queen of the Desert, Genius, The Paperboy).

I didn’t love absolutely everything about this movie, but the things I didn’t like were so minor that they can’t even really be pointed out as real issues.

There are very few of these biological dramas that I would consciously sit down and re-watch.

Grace of Monaco is one of them… and it would be for more than just background noise.

Cat’s Point of View:

I have longed to watch this movie for quite a while now. I hadn’t really picked up on it when it was first released; instead, I ran across the title as I was researching the filmography of Milo Ventimiglia (Tell, The Whispers, Madtown) for a previous review. The story of the real life fairytale of Princess Grace of Monaco is well known and beloved. I’m a sucker for this sort of movie.

With all the anticipation for this film, I can’t say that it blew my socks off – but it was respectable, and I enjoyed it.

Nicole Kidman (The Golden Compass, Strangerland, Lion) and Tim Roth (Lie to Me, October Gale, The Hateful Eight) made for an interesting pairing as Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. Oddly enough, it worked. I love Kidman and have seen quite a few of her movies. I think she was a great casting for this role. She just has this air about her that exudes the very grace that was her character’s namesake. Roth, however, has always been a bit of an odd bird to me. His character was a little bit of a harder sell.

My surprise in this movie was that I actually liked Parker Posey (Inside Out, Price Check, Highland Park) in her role as Madge. I usually can’t stand her. There’s just something about her characters or how she’s delivered roles in the past that have just felt like nails on chalkboard to me. I don’t know if it was the fact that this role required her to reign herself in for the rather severe character that made the difference, or if it was just the first opportunity I’ve had to see her show this aspect of her range.

I enjoyed that they explored this particular time period in the royal couple’s life – rather than your typical romance and royal wedding scenario that is the usual fairytale recipe. It’s a bit of a peek into what happens after the pair starts living their ‘happily ever after’ and the challenges that come with it for someone not born into the royal lifestyle and responsibilities.

The movie, while clearly a biopic, is not intended to be a documentary. There was apparently a bit of controversy in the filming and post-production of the film. The royal family released a statement that they were not involved with the movie and that there are some historical inaccuracies that the production team failed to address when requested. Sufficed to say, just take the events portrayed with a grain of salt to allow for the creative license of movie magic.

I wouldn’t mind watching this movie again, and would gladly recommend it to others.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 11%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 25%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 3/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 3.5/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3.5/5

The Random Rating: PG-13

Movie Trailer: