海角大神

Grace of Monaco聽was originally going to be one of the Weinsteins鈥� year-end releases in 2013 (potentially snagging lead Nicole Kidman some awards season love in the process), but the prestigious biopic ended up being聽delayed until 2014; it鈥檚 currently without an official U.S. release date.

Arash Amel鈥檚 (Erased)听Grace of Monaco聽screenplay zeroes in on Lady Kelly鈥檚 life during the 1960s, when her marriage to Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth) came under heavy pressure, between her pondering a return to acting in Hollywood fare and 鈥� on the bigger playing field of global politics 鈥� the looming threat of a potential Monaco invasion, as the result of a dispute between Kelly鈥檚 husband and France鈥檚 president at the time, Charles De Gaulle (Andr茅 Penvern).

The聽U.S. teaser聽for聽Grace of Monaco聽skipped on plot in favor of showcasing the film鈥檚 (literally) shimmering mise-en-scene 鈥� a visual metaphor for Grace Kelly鈥檚 鈥渄reamy鈥� experience, perhaps (that or maybe cinematographer Eric Gautier just really likes bright stuff). However, the UK trailer 鈥� released ahead of the film鈥檚 release in the country this June 鈥� incorporates some concrete plot beats into the mix, enough so as to provide a thin outline of the narrative conflict and drama at the heart of the story.

Director Olivier Dahan is no stranger to making these kind of handsome (if also stuffy) performer biopics, having previously directed Marion Cotillard to an Oscar win on his 20007 feature,聽La Vie en Rose. Truth be told, Dahan鈥檚聽Grace of Monaco鈥榮 seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to last year鈥檚 Weinstein awards-baiting biopic,聽Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom聽鈥� a pretty film whose lead has the necessary gravitas to keep the whole thing afloat, but not enough to save the movie from feeling a bit hollow.

Rounding out the聽Grace of Monaco聽cast are Frank Langella (Robot & Frank), Paz Vega (I鈥檓 So Excited!), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), and Parker Posey (Superman Returns).

Sandy Schaefer blogs at Screen Rant.