The Affair of the Necklace

In her first starring vehicle since her Oscar-winning turn in ''Boys Don't Cry,'' Swank plays Jeanne de la Motte Valois, an 18th-century aristocrat fixated on stealing a precious necklace to avenge her family, which was ravaged by the fickle royal politics that preceded the French Revolution. Along the way, true love proves a distraction.

Swank feels a deep affinity -- give or take a couple of centuries -- with the scorned noblewoman she plays. ''One of the reasons for the French Revolution was that society was so maddened by the way the royalty was ruling. It was so unfair -- there was no logic to any of it,'' says the actress. ''Even today, rules that have no logic piss me off. I believe in justice for all.... I don't mean to sound hifalutin.'' She doesn't, but the story apparently did: Director Shyer (best known for the ''Father of the Bride'' films) shopped the history-based script for more than four years before finding a taker in neophyte production company Alcon Entertainment (which has a distribution deal with Warner Bros.). ''It's not 'Big Momma's House,' you know?'' says Shyer. ''Studios have a knee-jerk reaction at the words 'costume drama,' 'period piece.' You have to prepare for battle.'' Bonne chance!

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