Thoroughly populist and middlebrow, full of all the high wigs, thick powder, perfect diction, and straightforward dialogue that define bodice-ripping prestige pictures about silently suffering souls.

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.

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

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

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