I'm not sure if "The Duchess" was as good a film as my enjoyment of it would indicate, but after a mere five minutes of trailers for "Monsters vs. Aliens" and (shudder) "Transformers 2," I was ready to embrace any film that offered actual dialogue and acting, not head-splitting volume and an endless money-shot of explosions.
Sure, period dramas with princesses and miladies in elaborate frocks and hair that could hold a small flock of birds are essentially the equivalent of a fanboy flick for the female demographic. And, at times, they are similarly empty spectacle (see "Marie Antoinette") — as fetishistic in their fascination with palaces and privilege as the fanboy films are with their digital effects.
Yet the better costume dramas — and "The Duchess" is certainly one — have that upper-crust razzle, but with deeper elements as well: sexual politics, individual desire vs. society's need for order and obligation, and poignant reminders of how human nature never really changes.