Starring Jaqueline Siegel, David Siegel, Virginia Nebab, Alyse Zwick
Directed by Lauren Greenfield
Expectations: High.
The Queen of Versailles is a film that I like in premise more than I like the actual movie. The idea of watching a movie about a rich family losing their fortunes and having to cope with the financial recession that hit a couple of years ago sounds like a crackin’ good time to lowly ole me. But in actual practice it’s a little thin for a feature, as it never feels like there’s anything being learned or gained from the experience of watching their demise. There’s definitely the morbid curiosity of watching rich people make incredible statements that show just how out of touch with reality they are, but there’s only so far that can take you.
I can only imagine what this documentary would have been without the financial crisis. It was well into production before that happened, so it ended up being one of those happy accidents. Would there really have been a whole movie chronicling this family’s construction of their $100 million dollar house that was set to be the largest in America? I can’t imagine actually watching something like that, especially when the first 30 or so minutes of The Queen of Versailles are just that. Thank God the stock market went to shit, because the movie was getting awfully stale watching our subjects host parties for the Miss America pageant contestants, or talk about how cramped their family is getting in their current, and huge, house.