Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cannes Opener: Nicole Kidman as “Grace of Monaco”

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Waking up in LA to news I knew a bit ago: Olivier Dahan’s “Grace of Monaco” starring Nicole Kidman and Tim will open this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Well, of course it will! This is where it was always meant to be. “Grace” tells a sort of historical refraction of how movie star Grace Kelly became Prince Rainier’s secret weapon in fight with France over taxing Monaco. Kidman and Roth are sensational in it.

An early New York screening without music or color correction had a very good response last fall. But The Weinstein Company wisely held it back out of Oscar competition because they had too many potential nominees for Best Actress.

As it is, Judi Dench became their candidate from “Philomena” and Meryl Streep from “August: Osage County.” Nicole is now on deck for next year, and Tim Roth could go into supporting.

Reading some other columns this morning, these writers forget something: Harvey Weinstein was always going to make this movie work in a big splashy way for Nicole Kidman. And he’s come through with flying colors. An opening in Cannes is the perfect launch for this little gem of a film. Bravo!

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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