A Little Chaos

I have been seeing previews for A Little Chaos for weeks and the lush period piece about the making of the gardens at Versailles with opulent costumes and noteworthy actors caught my attention immediately.  I couldn't wait to see it!  After all of the anticipation I was left a little bit underwhelmed after I saw it Monday night.  Master gardener Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) has been given the monumental task of creating the gardens at Versailles by Louis XIV (Alan Rickman), a capricious monarch who demands perfection.  He interviews other gardeners to help him and is intrigued by Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) because she is a woman and because she does not conform to the traditional (and formal) rules of gardening.  She is selected to create an outdoor amphitheater with fountains but is thwarted by work crews who resent taking orders from a woman and by Le Notre's jealous wife.  She also becomes a great favorite at Court, beguiling the King when she mistakes him for a gardener, and begins a romantic relationship with Le Notre.  Despite the setbacks, the garden is a triumph.  I'm not entirely sure why I didn't love this movie.  The performances are outstanding, especially Winslet.  I also really enjoyed Stanley Tucci as the outrageously flamboyant Duc d'Orleans and Jennifer Ehle as the King's mistress, Madame de Montespan.  I loved the scenery in the gardens and in the palaces of the Louvre and Fontainebleau and, of course, the costumes are gorgeous.  It is, without a doubt, a beautiful movie.  However, the plot is very predictable and the pacing is slow.  One of the best scenes between Winslet and Rickman (it's as if we are able to witness what happens to Marianne and Colonel Brandon after their marriage in Sense and Sensibility), while touching, is highly improbable.  A Little Chaos is a good costume drama but I think it takes more than just beautiful images on the screen to make a great film.

Note:  Matthias Schoenaerts seems to be everywhere lately.  While I liked his performance in Far From the Madding Crowd more, I found him to be quite appealing in this film.  I think men should wear their hair long.  Just my opinion...