The bad thing about messing up history and making a movie about a real person that is not based on facts but fiction is that we tend to remember the movie. So, now thousands of people will believe that Kelly saved Monaco (de Gaulle never went to any ball, the situation was negotiated peacefully with France at the end). They will believe that the marriage with the prince did not include numerous extramarital affairs on both sides and they will believe that Grace was as tall and elegant as Nicole Kidman, the perfect princess. Too bad, because reality was good enough. The movie is beautiful, superbly esthetic, but that is all.

It's 1961. Former Hollywood star Grace Kelly (Nicole Kidman) is married to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (Tim Roth) with two kids. Hitchcock tries to lure her back to Hollywood for his movie Marnie. France is fighting a colonial war in Algeria and is demanding taxation from Monaco. Charles De Gaulle is threatening invasion. Grace Kelly is suffocating under the pressure and decides to do the movie.

I came into this movie knowing that it's been critically panned but not necessarily why. At first, I thought the movie isn't that bad. There is definitely artistic license being taken with the historical events but that's par for the course. Then after twenty to thirty minutes, it became clear that something is glaringly wrong with this movie. The overwrought melodrama with the historical events left a bitter taste. Finally, I read that very little of it is historically accurate which makes a lot of sense. None of it rang true when I saw it. It's like a bad soap opera.

Some of the visuals are beautifully shot but sometimes it goes overboard like it's trying way too hard. There are many ridiculous things like her frustration day after day getting acting lessons. The screenwriter should remember that she was actually a professional actress. It's fine that she's told to act a certain way but Grace Kelly could easily achieve it all by herself without any trouble or any coaching. It becomes a group of fictional incorrect characters in a surreal play that intersects sometimes with historical events.

Despite the negative reviews, this reviewer saw 'Grace of Monaco' because of its subject matter, Grace Kelly being one of the most naturally beautiful and full-of-depth-and-grace classic film stars, and because Nicole Kidman has given a lot of good performances in her career.

Unfortunately 'Grace of Monaco' disappointed heavily. There are some great biopics around ('Amadeus' and 'The Elephant Man' being prime examples') but also some naff ones. While not quite as poor as 'Diana' or 'William and Kate', films with much worse editing and feel far more like Lifetime projects, 'Grace of Monaco' is one of the naff ones if not entirely without honour.

The best thing about 'Grace of Monaco' is the production values, the sumptuous costumes, sets and scenery looking absolutely breath-taking often. The film is very nicely shot too, though it's not without its dizzying or pedestrian moments in the editing.

It is agreed that Nicole Kidman is miscast, which will be and has been a turn-off for most, being at least a decade too old, four inches too tall (Kelly was tall but not as much as Kidman who is one of the tallest actresses in Hollywood) and not as natural a beauty as evident in some stiff and plastic facial expressions. However, it is whether she gave a good enough performance despite the miscasting that matters, and Kidman actually gives a very committed performance, that's charismatic and deeply felt too. The other good performance is the gleefully enjoyable Hitchcock of Roger Ashton-Griffiths, who does try to bring needed urgency to the proceedings, the culminating banquet actually being the film's dramatic highlight.

However, Tim Roth is too archetypal and too much of a dork as Rainier, while Robert Lindsay plays his very roughly drawn character too broadly and Derek Jacobi and particularly Frank Langella are wasted. There are some odd accents going on as well, as well as a lack of chemistry, and the characters are bland or annoying stereotypes, some not feeling relevant to the story and are as plastic as Kidman's Botox.

Faring worst are the very empty and half-baked script that sounds like soap opera past its sell by date, an overwrought and over-bearing music score that is too reminiscent of a comedy or a heavy-handed drama and the direction which sees violent and frequently jarring shifts in tone that suggests that those responsible had no idea what the film was trying to be or what to focus on. The story tries to be careful not to offend, but ends up being dull, dramatically soggy and laughably ridiculous with an overlong running time that makes some of the story feel stretched.

Overall, hugely disappointing, looks good and Kidman's performance is committed but what gives a film weight, depth and staying power is lost in translation. 3/10 Bethany Cox