In "The Duchess," a lavish melodrama of aristocratic foolishness and betrayal is designed around the colorful though not always happy life of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806).

Although it skims the surface, The Duchess is an uncommonly well-crafted historical feminist tearjerker—both anti-patriarchal and a monument to motherhood. It’s based on Amanda Foreman’s ...

Still, "The Duchess" doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is: a comfortable, low-calorie morsel of historical drama. As long as movie-goers don't expect anything more, they'll be ...

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