Abe Coisman

I love period pieces, but this is a disaster. First, the heroine has absolutely no sex appeal and only one worried expression on her face (with the ridiculous bangs and eyebrows) the whole time. Simon is gorgeous and really the only highlight, but there's zero chemistry between him and Daphne - he needed somebody with more womanly zest to play off and not someone that looks like a twelve-year-old. As far as African-Americans playing the parts of aristocrats, in an ideal world it would be so, but not in that period, so right away it was in-authentic. Unfortunately, you can't change history no matter how much you wish it so. The whole dialogue and plot seems so contrived and basically there was just no 'zap' to the whole thing. What a disappointment. The sets, though, were amazing - hence the two stars.