Jefferson in Paris

I have written a book on this subject, "The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson", first published in 1992, so I was expecting to find numerous errors. However, I could not find any. They seem to have made a special effort... Full review

So many of the negative comments seem to be reactions against either downplaying or overemphasizing Jefferson's relationship with Sally. It strikes me that this is a reasonably balanced presentation of what's been learned in recent years. Other negative critiques are... Full review

I wouldn't have been too surprised if Merchant and Ivory had attempted to suit up Anthony Hopkins as Thomas Jefferson or perhaps even fitted Hugh Grant with shoe lifts and an ersatz Viriginia accent for the role. Instead they went... Full review

This movie is so creative. Thandie Newton and Seth Gilliam are so talented in 'Jefferson in Paris'. The only reason many individuals found the movie not to their taste, was because it depicted Thomas Jefferson having a sexual relationship with his... Full review

Although I have been interested in Jefferson for many years, I put off seeing this film for some reason, and only caught it recently on cable.I give it mixed reviews, generally favorable. Ivory/Merchant have again fashioned a lavish tableau, and... Full review

I love this movie, because I am a complete sucker for movies set in the 18th century, and this is exceptionally well done. Nick Nolte is the most extremely unlikely choice to play Jefferson, but somehow he and the director... Full review

I watched this movie last night. Unbelievably, Channel 4 (tv channel here in the UK) scheduled it at 2.15am - right in the middle of the night! Who on earth is likely to watch it at that time? I just... Full review

This is a screen account, directed by James Ivory, of a fascinating historical episode - Thomas Jefferson's period as US ambassador in Paris for the five years leading up to the 1789 revolution. Many Americans may be put off the... Full review

My interest in seeing this movie was to compare it with the recent CBS mini series, "Sally Hemmings," which I recently saw and enjoyed. This movie was slow moving and not nearly as interesting as the mini series but it... Full review

We are invited here to see some of the more infrequently discussed aspects of the multifaceted Thos. Jefferson: architect, scientist, horticulturalist. Less of these perhaps than we might like, but more than we usually receive. Jefferson the scientist is mostly... Full review

A shot toward the end shows that red Kelly purse floating above Paris' skyline, and you don't believe it for a second - not because the special effects are faulty but because this weak movie never could summon such a strong breeze. As usual, the Merchant-Ivory team is intent on moving its film along agreeably, so when the plot calls for a late-movie spasm of violence, they appear clueless as to how to portray it. ... Full Review

A shot toward the end shows that red Kelly purse floating above Paris' skyline, and you don't believe it for a second - not because the special effects are faulty but because this weak movie never could summon such a strong breeze. As usual, the Merchant-Ivory team is intent on moving its film along agreeably, so when the plot calls for a late-movie spasm of violence, they appear clueless as to how to portray it. ... Full Review

Given the prodigious amount of research involved, the film's portrait of Jefferson as grave, formal and unbending, both serious and seriously repressed, is presumably accurate. But the successful Merchant Ivory ventures have done more than look attractive, they've forged emotional connections with the audience, something "Jefferson in Paris" is unable to do. ... Full Review

As a historical spectacle, James Ivory's "Jefferson in Paris" is nearly perfect in every detail. The callous decadence of the ruling class, the intellectual buzzing of the salons and the atmosphere of impending revolt in the streetsthese details about life in Paris during the 1780s are all conveyed with exceptional skill. ... Full Review

The whole film is rather superficial.....It tells its story reasonably well, but doesn't do much more.....Nolte never successfully forges a bond between his character and the audience.....Inexplicably, however, Nolte is actually rather flat..... ... Full Review

Just in time for the Oscars race, the Taft Museum of Art has a taste of film glamour for local fashionistas. The small, 36-piece Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen opens Saturday, turning the spotlight on costumes from... ... Full Article

It took about six months for the producers of "Marie-Antoinette" to negotiate their own version of a latter-day Versailles treaty. The terms were very favorable, too. ... Full Article

At first I thought that the trouble with "Jefferson in Paris," that James Ivory-Ismail Merchant-Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Classics Illustrated comic, was the casting of thuggish Nick Nolte as the cultured author of the Declaration of Independence. Now that I've seen ... Full Article

AN American blonde of television and tabloid fame looks down from a billboard here, her lips parted, her hands cradling a meaningful-looking gun. "Don't Call Me Babe!" reads the ad copy for her new film, offering a prime example of... ... Full Article

As beautifully staged as all Merchant-Ivory films, "Jefferson in Paris" is nevertheless a disaster, intellectually infuriating and thoughtlessly racist. In this script, which bowdlerizes a crucial juncture in Thomas Jefferson's life, the Founding Father merely founders (and fathers). The film ... Full Article

NICK NOLTE as a hockey player.Nick Nolte as a crooked cop.Nick Nolte as a sanitation crew member.Nick Nolte as a nightclub bouncer. ... Full Article