Yes, Keira Knightley is naked in the Duchess, but the real question is: “Is it a good kind of nudity?” There’s nudity that makes you feel good about yourself and then there’s nudity that makes you feel kind of guilty for looking at it. The Duchess walks a very fine line.
On the one hand, there’s no denying that Keira Knightley is smokin’ hot. Even after a ridiculous scene where Ralph Fiennes, as the douchebag Duke of Devonshire, undresses her out of very complicated garmets. But even so, you feel kind of guilty because Ralph is being such a dick and when it is revealed what a dick he is later— Well, in retrospect, it’s kind of like watching some creepy old guy bone your sister.
That being said, there is a second lesbian scene without so much nudity that is REALLY hot. Very boner-inducing. That’s probably (pardon the pun) the climax of the movie. The focus of the movie is the Duchess’ horrible relationship with the Duke, but the interesting stuff is going on behind the scenes in politics. The Duchess is a popular historical figure in England because she held a lot of political sway at a time when women couldn’t even vote. Unfortunately, most of the movie is about what a douche her husband is. Although entertaining, I think the director missed the boat on what could have been an interesting look at English politics at the time, manipulated by a woman who had a bad husband and the occassional lesbian affair. Everyone in the movie is great, but it’s like the real movie is happening somewhere nearby and you keep getting stuck at home with a dysfunctional family of rich people. All in all it’s a fairly bearable chick flick. I give it 5 beer kegs.
