Jeanne du Barry

But in a gorgeous period piece that is never boring, you can’t deny the entertainment value of Madame du Barry, one of the most captivating women since Madame Bovary, and all the more fascinating because she was real.

[T]he story's intriguing complexities are smoothed over, submerged, and deemed less interesting than the lovers' stunning surroundings.

The tableaux are stunning, the costumes surreal and truffle-rich, but the film doesn’t let period details obscure the scandalous love story at its royal center. A warm, scented bath of a movie.

Overlapping with Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” but minus the mischievously anachronistic touches, it’s a finely wrought story of palace intrigue enriched by lush sets and decors.

Magnificent to behold but basically lacking a point, this period-rich historical epic seems uncertain about what it wants to say about its main character.

One might expect a film pairing these two actors would produce combustible results. But “Jeanne du Barry,” written, directed by and starring Maïwenn, is an ultimately snoozy historical period piece.

Smug in her sense of self and confident in the life choices that led to her rise to the top, there's no stopping the main character of Jeanne du Barry.

This feels like a superficial, voguish treatment of a complex and controversial character.

Any actual criticisms related to the sexuality, the patriarchy, and the powerful's misuse of power have no place in this film, and that makes the general negative portrayal of everyone else feel light and insubstantial.

The longest, most drawn-out death scene in movie history. The visuals, art direction, costuming, and look of it are gorgeous. The film’s an eyeful more than anything and there’s nothing wrong with that.