Marie Antoinette: Pretty Vacant

Marie Antoinette is another winsome self-portrait from Hollywood princess Sofia Coppola, and ultimately undone by its own solipsism (unlike in Lost in Translation, she betrays no interest in anybody else here, not even Asia Argento as Madame Dubarry).

For the longest time nothing happens in this movie - I've never seen quite so much screen time devoted to eating chocolate - but it must be said Coppola is very good at conveying nothing... in fact you could say that nothing is her forte. Apparently the most interesting thing about Marie is that she doesn't have a clue how to seduce a man. And she loved to shop. Even if the movie doesn't add up to much in the end it's a gloss on the costume drama you won't have seen before. The photography is to die for, the design is sumptuous and the 1980s pop soundtrack worked for me. As for Kirsten Dunst, she's never been so peachy.