Publisher's Synopsis
Bob Balaban directs this fictional drama based on the real-life relationship between uber-rich tobacco heiress Doris Duke (Susan Sarandon) and her gay Irish butler Bernard Lafferty (Ralph Fiennes), to whom she left the lion's share of her massive fortune. After dismissing her former butler on a whim, Duke hires Lafferty - whose previous employers include Elizabeth Taylor and Peggy Lee - to manage her New Jersey estate. An alcoholic recently out of rehab, the reserved Lafferty gradually becomes Duke's gay alter ego and most loyal friend as she romps through life sleeping with much younger men, making shrewd business decisions in the blink of an eye, managing her fortune and growing her beloved rare orchids.
