The confluence of a period piece and a modern soundtrack is practically a cliche. An enjoyable one, but a cliche nonetheless. Remove the costumes and you've got an episode of MTV's .Sweet Sixteen.. Take The Strokes out of .Marie Antoinette. and it.s lost its central gimmick.

And while that.s most likely exactly what Ms. Coppola was going for, you make these figures too contemporary and they lose their gravitas, and the whole movie just feels silly. "Marie Antoinette" avoids this by just a hair  (relying on great costuming, sets, and an excellent supporting cast), but there.s only so much teen angst one can stand from the Queen of France. The imposition of modern sensibilities on a classical time period has been done successfully in the past, but .Marie Antoinette. lacks the sophistication and maturity to pull this off. It.s easy to make people feel for a cute teenage girl who has just had her dog, her family, and her whole life torn from her. Now try to get an audience to relate to Sir Thomas More. 

To top it all off, the most solemn of moments, the very climax of her story . her execution . is not developed. I think a great opportunity to showcase the darkness of political and revolutionary reality in contrast to the isolation and splendor of palace life was neglected. The revelation of punishment, whether deserved or not, and the shameless demonstration of retribution and consequence . a concept so absent from the television shows this movie alludes to . would have added an entirely fresh dimension to this film. And even though we know what happens to her and can relish the irony, or even consider the possibility that the film is made more powerful by this event.s absence, the movie.s MTV-watching target audience might not be so well-versed in their 18th Century French Revolutionary history to appreciate the brutality of her fate.

What you.ve got here is an easily watchable, well-crafted, beautiful-looking movie with cute chicks and exciting teenage adventures. I loved .Marie Antoinette. because Kirsten Dunst is nice to look at and I was entertained for two hours. I loved it because it was fun and reminded me of my high school days, but there.s little more than desire, nostalgia, and fluffy meringue in this cake.