By Nick Nitkowski

“Jeanne du Barry” is a French spoken historical romance drama about a harlot named Jeanne, played by Maïwenn also serving as director and one of the screenwriters of the film, who does what she can to survive by climbing the social ladder. Once she is introduced to King Louis XV, played by Johnny Depp, the two start to form a secret romance while the rest of the King’s high society members scold her for being a commoner.

This film was definitely on my radar because this is the first film to feature Johnny Depp since the trial between him and his ex-wife Amber Heard. It was unclear if he would return to the big screen after being unjustly shunned by the major studios prior to the trial. Now the has been proven innocent, which a lot of us knew was the case once evidence became public, he is free to do whatever he wants. And he chose to do a French spoken historical romance drama. Count me in. So how was it?

In a word, the movie is fine. It didn’t “wow” me in any way. It simply exists. Not to say that the film is bad at all. It managed to hold my attention the whole time, but it felt as if there wasn’t much of a story to it. Which can make the film feel slow at times. The structure of the film was intro, girl meets king, relationship blossoms, scrutiny, ending. The ending was perhaps the one thing in the movie that had the most impact where I actually started to feel emotions. Much of the purpose of historical dramas is to teach the audience about figures from history. Here, it just felt like I was just watching royalty live their lives. Not exactly a bad thing in terms of a film, but it does lack substance.

The acting in the movie was fine. There wasn’t any performance from anyone in particular that stood out to me. Maïwenn portraying the title character was okay and Johnny Depp was also okay. It seemed to me that Johnny Depp’s character didn’t speak a lot throughout the movie. I’m not sure if this was because his French is limited or if that’s just how he was written. People, myself as well, were curious as to how much screen time Johnny Depp would actually have in the film, and I can confirm that he has a substantial amount of screentime. Maïwenn carries the heaviest burden of starring, writing, and directing this movie, a feat she has conquered before.

The main attractions for period pieces like these are the costumes and the set designs and they are all very immaculate in this film. The costumes are very well designed and look very authentic. I’ve seen films where the costumes look cheap and unrealistic. Fortunately, this is not the case here. The film takes place in the Palace of Versailles and according to an interview with Johnny Depp that appeared after the film, they shot the film primarily in Versailles as well as other locations in Paris and everything both interior and exterior looked absolutely amazing. So, even though the film may feel slow at times, the visual aesthetics of the set locations are a wonder to behold.

Overall, “Jeanne du Barry” was a fine film with great sets and costumes with okay acting with a story that was also just okay. Not a bad movie but I feel as though it could have been a lot better. It was nice to see Johnny Depp back on the big screen after a long and unjustifiably forced absence. If you’re a historian, you may find something of interest in this film, but for the average moviegoer, it may or may not hold your interest. Feel free to roll the dice on this one as the reviews for it seem to be split down the middle. The film has already had its limited Fathom Events run in theaters, but it should be available on streaming on May 21st.

3/5 stars