At once hilarious and horrifying, this documentary about Jackie and David Siegel, conspicuous consumers, and their fall from prosperity had Jack and me laughing and groaning at their antics. The actual palace at Versailles inspired the 100,000 square foot mansion they began building in Florida when their timeshare company was at its peak. The epitome of nouveau riche, this couple proves that money can't buy class. We almost feel sorry for Jackie. Almost.
This is director Lauren Greenfield's second feature length documentary. The first, Thin (2006), which we didn't see, was nominated for an Emmy (it was on HBO). Both were nominated for the Grand Jury prize at Sundance and this one won her the Sundance Documentary Directing Award.
The composer, Jeff Beal, came to my attention back in 2000, when I bought the soundtrack to Pollock after seeing the trailer a dozen or so times. I listen to it often. He's scored other movies but is perhaps best known for the TV shows Monk, Medium, Carnivàle, Ugly Betty, and more. You can listen to clips from this movie on the amazon page, and move around that site to hear others of his soundtracks.
Rottentomatoes reviewers agree wholeheartedly, averaging 94% to their audiences' 77. Understandably, David Siegel is angry and wants the movie closed because it suggests that he is hurting financially. He says it's all lies. It's on only one screen here now, two weeks after we saw it, but, unless Siegel can get an injunction, it'll be a popular DVD.
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