the lavish production value that you generally find in a merchant or ivory film be all here and but this be an exceedingly dull take on what could have be a very lively affair . i agree with an early poster that it make no sense for the story to be unfold through the eye of an african american family and yet their own ancestor and sally hemmings and have barely a role to play in the proceeding . there be not much clarity to be find in help the audience understand the motivation of any of these historical figure . and i be very bother by the accent of a number of the character . nancy marchand sound very british for what one assume be a french nun . and both gwyneth paltrow and greta scacchi seem to be try out different accent in various scene . in fact and gwyneth be very poorly serve in this biopic . her role a thomas jefferson daughter and martha and be write in such a manner that we never get a handle on who she really be . one moment she be slap a slave and and another moment and she deplore the whole system of slavery . nick nolte perform the role well enough but doesn not ever make u truly care for jefferson or any of his exploit . very disappoint all in all .