Based on the book Georgina, The Duchess of Devonshire by Armanda Foreman, THE DUCHESS is the kind of British period piece North Americans love.  Director Saul Dibb (BULLET BOY) satisfies all of what is required from the lavish costumes to the expensive props and expansive estate settings. 

The dialogue is sufficiently sprite and though the film is based in 1774, the English prose spoken is easily understood.  Though the story involves Georgiana (Keira Knightley) and her failed marriage to the womanizing unloving and intimidating Duke (Ralph Fiennes), the film is in reality a chick flick melodrama given the polished look.  The duchess (Knightley) is stuck in a male dominated world where she has not only to play the role of wife and mother but one to reject the love of her life (Dominic Cooper).  Knightley is proving to be a staple in romantic costume dramas (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and ATONEMENT) but it is Fiennes that steals the show as the sinister yet pitiful duke whose only fault seems to be not knowing how to love.

THE DUCHESS is passable fluff.  Just don’t expect the sophistication and cinematic genius of last year’s ATONEMENT, also starring Knightley.