Merchant-Ivory adaptation of the Henry James novel about European nobility and American wealth at the end of the 19th century. Italian prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam) is set to marry American heiress Maggie Verver (Kate Beckinsale), and must therefore break with his longtime mistress Charlotte (Uma Thurman). The marriage goes ahead, Maggie falls pregnant, and the happy family divide their time between England and Italy. However, when Charlotte returns a few years later and marries Maggie's father Adam (Nick Nolte), trouble is sure to follow.
