The DuchessMovie Reviews

Poster art for "The Duchess."

Gifts + Promos

The Vow Free Gift

Buy tickets & receive a FREE 3-Month Love Forecast from Astrology.com!

Fandango Bucks

Send your sweetheart the gift of movies this Valentine’s Day!

Journey Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Nicaragua!

Interactive Oscar Ballot

Who's taking home the Oscar? Cast your vote & challenge your friends on Facebook!

Need Help?
Go
Avg. Critic Score: 62 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    This is not one of those delightful movies based on a Jane Austen novel. It is about hard realists, constrained in a stifling system and using whatever weapons they can command. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Even surrounded by all this quality work, Ralph Fiennes, who plays William Cavendish, the fifth duke of Devonshire, the most powerful man in England next to the king, walks off with the picture. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    It's Knightley who makes The Duchess a royal treat. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    It tells the amazing, but mostly true, story of a late-18th century aristocrat who made an indelible mark on English society akin to that of her direct descendant, Lady Diana. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Princess Diana's antecedent, both genetically and figuratively, was a beautiful and glamorous duchess named Georgiana Spencer. Like her descendant, her charm and vivacity captivated England. Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Fiennes speaks with his body what the script cannot formulate about what it's like to be a man apart. The actor creates particulars of time, space, class, and personality with one crook of a finger, one twist of a wrist. I call that nobility of craft; he's the actors' prince. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Keira Knightley is a terrific choice to play the 18th century socialite. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post |

    It's too bad there's not more substance to The Duchess, because there's lots of acting and, as is required of a Brit-styled period piece, lushness galore. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Justin Chang

    A serviceable picture that offers all the sumptuous visual pleasures of a historical costume drama, yet little in the way of actual history. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    An overstuffed, intellectually underbaked portrait of a poor little rich girl. Read full review

View more reviews for The Duchess on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Period drama delves into some heavy themes.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that although this serious period drama stars Keira Knightley, it's not all that likely to appeal to teens since it explores the inner workings of a very flawed marriage -- one that's marred by infidelity and disloyalty and complicated by a menage a trois. There's an upsetting scene in which a man forces himself on a woman, as well as some nudity and passionate embracing. Also expect plenty of gambling and drinking, mostly at joyous events though sometimes during times of despair. At one point, a main character imbibes so much that she upends a chandelier and accidentally sets fire to her wig.
  • Families can talk about what it was like to be a woman during the time in which the movie takes place. How much power did women have in the 1700s? Is the arrangement that the duchess suggests to her husband a fair one? The film depicts a number of revolutions under way, including the beginnings of the women's movement. Do you think it's all historically accurate? How could you find out? Also, do you think this drama is any different from other period dramas in feel or look? How so?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: A man treats his wife like property, insisting that she provide him with a male heir. He also ignores their daughters and insists on keeping a mistress and flaunting her under his wife's nose.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: A man forces himself on a woman in a brutal scene, though there's no blood or injury. She's clearly affected by it and appears shell shocked afterward. Some threats are made between characters, there's some yelling, and a little boy is shown handling a firearm. Some discussion of wife-beating after a woman is shown with bruises on her skin.
  • sex false3 Sex: Some scenes of couplings/simulated sex in which both men and women are nude, though viewers don't see genitalia. Additional scenes hint at sex by training the camera on a door, behind which there's much moaning and rustling. A woman caresses another woman. There's also an unusual relationship in which two women share a man. Briefly, a woman is sighted leaving a man's bedroom, her naked backside showing.
  • language false0 Language: Not an issue
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of drinking, mostly at social events. Some characters drink to excess.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

4.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

Keira Knightley, who I’m pretty sure isn’t even a very good actress, is someone I will watch in just about anything on screen for reasons I can’t explain... Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

The Duchess Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook