It must be Oscar season. We are being increasingly subjected to weepy trailers featuring soft-lit corridors, big stars making powerful speeches and tales of apparent importance told in booming, serious and epic tones. The latest in your list of Oscar-bait contenders is Grace Of Monaco, whose first teaser came flying at us from the UK today. Prepare yourselves.
Nicole Kidman stars as Hollywood actress Grace Kelly, the luminous clothes-horse who left Hollywood to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The director is Olivier Dahan, who gave us the Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose, which is at least encouraging. Grace Of Monaco follows the marriage of the actress and the conflict between Rainier and French President Charles de Gaulle in the wake of a tax law dispute in the 1960s. Nothing says riveting filmmaking like ‘tax dispute.’
The trailer gives us very little to go on, except for Nicole Kidman looking as luminous as a Chanel ad and Frank Langella’s impressive but somewhat asinine voiceover. Interest in the film will likely depend on just how much you care about Grace Kelly and her marriage. I do not particularly care, and this trailer has given me no reason to. It seems an attempt to inject serious weight into what is basically a Hollywood fairytale that never quite lived up to its name. But perhaps Grace Kelly’s ascension to literal royalty is exactly your cup of tea.
The film also stars Tim Roth as Prince Rainier, alongside Parker Posey, Frank Langella and Paz Vega. It will hit US theatres in a limited release on November 27. Perhaps we shall have a proper trailer before then, and perhaps I’ll change my mind about the film. As of right now though, Grace of Monaco looks very luminous and very boring, much like the Princess herself.
Check out the trailer below and let us know if you’re excited about Grace Of Monaco in the comments.
Published: Sep 16, 2013 10:30 am