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| The Affair of the Necklace | 
 enlarge | Director: Charles Shyer
Actors: Hilary Swank, Simon Baker, Jonathan Pryce, Adrien Brody, Brian Cox
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $5.74
You Save: $9.24 (62%)
New (16) Used (27) from $5.74
Avg. Customer Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 15464
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 118
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.6
MPN: WARD21292D
ISBN: 0790761297
UPC: 085392129225
EAN: 9780790761299
ASIN: B00003CY5S
Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Release Date: June 25, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: All of our used items are 100% Guaranteed to play.
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Product Description
Wealth and desire. Politics and corruption. Celebrity and sexuality. An 18th-century frenchwoman combines them all in a treacherous scheme to acquire the 2800-carat diamond necklace that will enable her to buy back the royal status taken from her. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/10/2005 Starring: Hilary Swank Jonathan Pryce Run time: 120 minutes Rating: R Director: Charles Shyer
Amazon.com
For all its earnest intrigue, historically accurate references, and elaborate set design, The Affair of the Necklace is best enjoyed as a comedy of Hollywood errors. The court of late-18th-century France is ruled by Marie Antoinette (Joely Richardson), whose confidence and favor is yearned for by Jeanne de la Motte-Valois (Hilary Swank), a young woman stripped of her title and orphaned at a young age. As flashbacks repeatedly remind the audience, Jeanne is essentially pure at heart even as she takes up with a court gigolo (Simon Baker) and enacts the intricate scheme from which the title is drawn. Soon embroiled in Jeanne's plan to win back her rightful place in the world are her avaricious husband of convenience, Nicolas (Adrien Brody); the soon-to-be-disposed-of Marie Antoinette; the salacious Cardinal Rohan (Jonathan Pryce); a necklace of questionable taste; and a host of other players. All the makings for a hilarious romp (a la Ridicule) are in place, but director Charles Shyer, with his lavish budget in tow, wants the film to be taken seriously. Only Christopher Walken, in a hilarious turn as the fraudulent soothsayer Count Cagliostro, sees through the facile script and relishes his part in what will no doubt prove a colossal flop. --Fionn Meade
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| Customer Reviews: Read 43 more reviews...
 Skin-deep beauty November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The setting is the court of France during the reign of Louis XVI, where Marie Antoinette has just refused to accept a massive diamond necklace (which was originally intended for a rival). Jeanne de Valois, who has reason to hate the royals, designs a scheme involving the 2800-carot necklace: Using the ambitious and unsuspecting Cardinal de Rohan as a pawn, Jeanne comes to possess the jewels, but the plan backfires with disastrous results.
The movie is based on a true story, but the facts are twisted and the plot so complicated that I had a hard time understanding it or even caring. Jeanne should have been the villain of the case, but instead she's made to be a pathetic victim and brave heroine, and it doesn't make sense. The narration tells us that the affair of the necklace was a huge contributing factor in Marie Antoinette's downfall, but there's nothing in the plot to show this.
The casting of Hillary Swank as Jeanne and Adrien Brody as her husband was a big mistake; they're both too contemporary and ungainly to play in this delicate period piece and they look out of place. No expense was spared for the opulent Oscar-nominated costumes and the magnificent sets, but the movie is a major clunker thanks to its confusing script.
 Period Piece Based od Historical Fact August 31, 2008
This movie was well acted by a cast of well-known actors, wonderful costuming & cinematography and a must see if you love period pieces based on historical fact.
The only major draw back to this movie for me was how slow the storyline seemed to movie and its predictability.... If the movie wasn't so slow or predictable then I would have given it a much higher rating than 3 stars!
 Give Alexander Dumas Some Credit! July 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"L'Affaire du Collier" may be based upon a true story, but it is also an enthralling historical romance, "The Queen's Necklace," by Alexandre Dumas, who certainly had more than the "Three Musketeers" up his sleeve. Dumas relates the identical story of Joseph Balsamo, aka Count Cagliostro, Jeanne de la Motte Valois, the lecherous but charming Cardinal de Rohan and the great diamond scam, although the movie makers give Dumas no credit whatsoever (I note that the book is available on Amazon.com, and I highly recommend it!).
The costume designer, Malena Canonero, deserves plaudits for the swathes of silks, satins, and lace jabots that recreate the opulence of the 18th-century court of Louis XVI magnificently. The settings are also splendid. I found much of the music jarring, however, in that the composer insisted on giving it a modern beat at times, and also used a mish-mash of Mozart's "Requiem," among other things. I find such cuts and rearrangement of a bar here; a bar there, to be both lazy and a bit of a cheat. In the featurette, the director explained that he wanted to make the period "accessible" to modern audiences. Such "accessibility" not only insults the intelligence of the modern audience but also weakens the movie.
Because the story is so strong, I nevertheless enjoyed the film. I was particularly impressed with the performances of Jonathan Pryce as the suave Cardinal, Adrien Brody as Jeanne's feckless husband, and Simon Baker, who is especially engaging as her love interest. All of them are believable and move well in their silks. Although Hilary Swank is an excellent actress, I thought she was miscast in this role. She looks a trifle uncomfortable in her costume and moves more like a woman of the twenty-first century rather than one of the eighteenth.
These reservations aside, I shall keep this film and doubtless watch it again.
 Hillary Swank is awesome in this movie September 27, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This film is based on true events that led directly to the downfall of Marie Antoinette, the much maligned Queen of France. Hillary Swank does an amazing job in the role of the daughter of the aristocratic, but unjustly persecuted Valois family. This film recounts her scheme to clear her familiy's name and reclaim her rightful position in French society. Natasha Richardson is superb in the few scenes she has as the doomed Marie Antoinette. Adrien Brody gives a fine performance as well. I really enjoyed this film. It is a bittersweet tale and an excellent period piece. If you like Hilary Swank, you will LOVE this movie.
L'affaire du collier January 29, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I think this movie gets me because it is based on a true story, not entirely true, but the necklace scandal, in my opinion did contribute to the french revolution, Hilary is wonderful, I think. The whole movie is wonderful, and sad because you know what happens to the people involved, I would recommend owning this DVD, if you enjoy, historical, or period pieces.
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