Nick Nolte has done far, far better things than this lavish Merchant-Ivory costume drama, set in France just prior to the 1789 Revolution. It was Jefferson who had drafted the pivotal American Declaration of Independence in 1776. A statesman hugely admired by French liberal thinkers, he was now US ambassador in Paris. But Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's script fails to put the character, or the turbulence of 1780s France, across with sufficient force. Yes, Jefferson still owned slaves; yes, he refused to allow his adored daughter Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow, excellent) to become a Catholic nun. But these issues are handled superficially, sidestepped in favour of the muted romance between widower Jefferson and the beautiful Maria (Greta Scacchi), wife of British artist Richard Cosway (Simon Callow, doing another of his bouncy bumblers). And then we have the arrival of young slave girl Sally (charmingly played by Thandie Newton). From the introductory sequence (cameo from James Earl Jones) we know that she will bear Jefferson several children... Costumes are gorgeous, attention to period detail is impeccable, but the film doesn't do justice to its fascinating subject.

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