Customer Reviews

The Importance of Being Earnest (Widescreen)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I love most of the actors in this movie, but after watching it I started to question my feelings.

I don't think anyone who made this film truly understood the play.

If they had it might have been more amusing, because the play is one of the best pieces of satirical literature ever written.

A shame, really. Go read the book.

I love Oscar Wilde's play, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and I first saw the film version on a trans-Pacific flight. I was traveling on an airline that allowed each person to choose his or her own in-flight entertainment, so I actually watched the film three times (along with some episodes of FRASIER and one viewing of LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT, so you can get an idea of how long that flight really was).

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST centers around a young man named Jack Worthing (Colin Firth). When Jack ventures into London, he pretends to be his "brother," Earnest, so his dalliances can't be traced back to him. However, on one foray into the city, Jack/Earnest falls madly in love with the very proper-but-headstrong Gwendolen Fairfax (Frances O'Conner). Gwendolen does, in fact, return the love of Jack/Earnest, but her mother, Lady Bracknell (Judi Dench), doesn't care for Jack/Earnest simply because he's not "to the manor born," though he does own a perfectly wonderful country estate. Jack, you see, was a foundling, but not the kind one would certainly find in any novel by Dickens, however. Jack's a foundling who's benefactor left him a manor house, a fortune and a ward, a young woman named Cecily Cardew (Reese Witherspoon).

Jack's best friend is Algernon Moncrieff (Rupert Everett). Being young and unattached, Algernon decides he wants to meet Cecily, so he simply appropriates the name "Earnest" for himself and visits Jack's country estate when Jack is gone for the sole purpose of romancing Cecily. Things are going along swimmingly when Jack returns home unexpectedly, only to be surprised himself by the arrival of Gwendolen and, shortly thereafter, Lady Bracknell. Adding to the hilarity of this situation is the fact that both Cecily and Gwendolen dream of marrying men named "Earnest" (which meant something else entirely in Wilde's day than it does today) and the fact that one of the men can, in truth, call himself "Earnest," though when he appropriates the name, he doesn't know it. All of this might sound like it would lend itself to a rather breakneck plot, but it doesn't. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST seems terribly long and slow going, even to someone who's trying to whittle away the hours on a long trans-Pacific flight.

If you've ever seen the stage play, you'll know that director Oliver Parker has played fast and loose with Wilde's original plot. Sometimes this works in a film adaptation; at other times it backfires. This is one time when I thought it backfired more than it worked. Many of Parker's "additions" simply didn't work and anyone who's familiar with the work of Wilde knows he wouldn't have written them.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST was, of course, originally written for the stage, not the screen, and stage plays, of necessity, depend more on sparkling and witty dialogue than do films. When it comes to dialogue, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST simply shines. Parker has, to his credit, managed to use all of Wilde's best material and, while it's wonderful and delivered very well, dialogue alone, no matter how sparkling and witty, can't create a five star film.

Parker should be commended for choosing his cast well. Colin Firth is perfect as Jack while Rupert Everett is wonderful as Algernon. Judi Dench is, of course, terrific in everything she does. Frances O'Conner (who was in MANSFIELD PARK) is very good as Gwendolen, but I thought Reese Witherspoon was miscast as Cecily. Don't get me wrong, her acting was very good and she certainly does a much better English accent than does Gywneth Paltrow. The problem for me with Witherspoon was that I'm just so used to seeing her in ditzy blonde roles that are quintessential American "fluff," and, because of that, I really couldn't buy her portrayal of Cecily no matter how good she was. I think she also looks quintessentially American, something this role couldn't hide.

If you're willing to sacrifice plot and depth of characterization for witty dialogue, and more importantly, if you've never seen the stage play, then THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST might work well for you as a film and even be a five star treat. For Wilde "purists" like me, however, the film, good as it was, left something to be desired. My advice would be to simply enjoy the film as a farce of mistaken identity and don't judge it too harshly. Just try to have fun.

You may have to change your set up on your DVD player to get sound on a stereo system. Older DVD players may not be able to reproduce the sound track.

Having seen a number of productions of the play I think this one works very well.

This is an inventive and artful production of Oscar Wilde's play, but I can confidently say that were Oscar Wilde alive today, he would be appalled at the misuse to which his play has been put. Indeed I think I feel the ground rumbling as he rolls over in his grave, and yes he is actually spinning in anguish.

Oliver Parker, who directed and wrote the screen adaptation, simply misinterpreted the play. He focused on the "dashing young bachelors" when the real focus of the play is Lady Bracknell, the absurd and beautifully ironic representation of the Victorian mind who was then and has been for over a hundred years Wilde's singular creation and one of the great characters of English literature. She is supposed to steal every scene she is in and we are to double take everyone of her speeches as we feel that she is simultaneous absurd and exactly right. Instead Judi Dench's Lady Bracknell (and I don't blame Dench who is a fine actress) is harsh and stern and literal to the point of being a controlling matriarch when what Wilde had in mind was somebody who was both pompous and almost idiotic yet capable of a penetrating and cynical wisdom (so like the author's). Compared to Dane Edith Evans's brilliant performance in the celebrated cinematic production from 1952, Dench's Lady Bracknell is positively one-dimensional.

The point of Wilde's play was to simultaneously delight and satirize the Victorian audience who came to watch the play. This is the genius of the play: the play-goer might view all of the values of bourgeois society being upheld while at the same time they are being made fun of. Not an easy trick, but that is why The Importance of Being Earnest is considered one of the greatest plays ever written. This attempt to turn it into a light entertainment for today's youthful audiences fails because this play is not a romantic comedy. It is more precisely a satire of a romantic comedy. Its point and Wilde's intent was to make fun of Victorian notions of romance and marrying well and to expose the mercantile nature of that society. It is probably impossible to "translate" the play for the contemporary film viewer since a satire of today's audiences and today's society would require an entirely different set of rapiers.

Parker's additions to the play amount to distractions that dilute the essence of the play's incomparable wit. Most of Wilde's witticisms are lost in the glare of Parker's busy work. Recalling Lady Bracknell as a dance hall girl in her youth who became pregnant before being wed was ridiculous and not only added nothing, but misinterpreted her character. Lady Bracknell is not a hypocrite with a compromised past. She is everything she pretends to be and that is the joke. Showing Algernon actually running through the streets to escape creditors or being threatened with debtor's prison was silly and again missed the point. Algy was "hard up" true and in need of "ready money" but his bills would be paid. Gwendolyn in goggles and cap driving a motor car also added nothing and seemed to place the play some years after the fact.

The big mistake movie directors often make when adapting a stage play into a movie is to feel compelled to get the play off the stage and out into the streets and countryside. Almost always these attempts are simply distractions. Some of the greatest adaptations--Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire from 1951 comes immediately to mind--played it straight and didn't try anything fancy. Here Parker seems obsessed with "dressing up" the play. What he does is obscure it.

On the positive side the costumes were beautiful and Anna Massy was an indelible Miss Prism. Reese Witherspoon at least looked the part of Cecily and she obviously worked hard. Rupert Evertt had some moments in the beginning that resembled Wilde's Algernon, but he was not able to sustain the impersonation.

My recommendation is that you not bother with this production and instead get the 1952 film starring, in addition to Edith Evans, Michael Redgrave and Margaret Rutherford. It is essentially true to the play as Wilde wrote it, and is a pure delight.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining and light hearted.
My husband and daughter even enjoyed it. Colin Firth is always excellant in his movies and he and Rupert Everet made for a fun combination.

In Victorian England, two young ladies are convinced they can only fall in love with men named "Earnest," so wealthy Jack (Colin Firth) and his scoundrel friend Algernon (Rupert Everett) adopt that name and the result is unrestrained hilarity. (NOT.)

This misguided version of Oscar Wilde's well-loved stage play suffers from poor direction at every turn. The sets and costumes are too brightly colored, the actors are too tanned and robust, and their mannerisms are so distinctly modern that one never believes it's the 1890s. One really vulgar addition to the original has two characters getting their beloved's names tattooed, colorfully, on their bums. *shudder* Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are both handsome, but they don't capture the period and they often mumble, which is unforgivable since the language is the best part of the show. The two young ladies are sadly miscast: Although Reese Witherspoon does a respectable English accent, she has to work so hard at it that it's distracting and she looks very 21st century. Frances O'Connor as Jack's love interest is pushy and unlikable. The real star of the film is Judi Drench who displays the perfect regal elegance and snobbiness her part requires.

The movie is pretty boring until the last 30 minutes, when all the (supposed) wackiness of two men calling themselves "Earnest" finally starts to make sense and several coincidences pay off. Overall, however, this dismal reworking of a hilarious play has neither wit nor humor.

I read the play awhile ago and loved it, so I just had to see the movie. It was not a disappointment! So many of the lines were much funnier when I heard them said, and all the actors suited their roles perfectly. It kept to the script quite well, though I was disappointed when they cut out one of my favorite lines. All in all, however, it was a good movie. If you have read the play and enjoyed it, see the movie!

i watched this film again for the fourth time and it actually gets better with each viewing. in my first review i gave it four stars. now it's definitely a five star film. the actors deliver the brilliant script, but the screenplay adds a lot of humourous touches, bringing out even more the comic potential of this already very funny play. my only criticism is that the tom wilkinson is a little too young to play the love interest for reese's governess. she looked more like his mother than his lover. otherwise, a truly splendid film. must see.

I haven't seen the 1952 version of Earnest, but I must say that I love this one. I laughed the whole way through. Purists might say that the dialogue goes too slowly, that the acting was underdone, or that Reese Witherspoon was miscast. My opinion: the dialogue is, of course, brilliant. It's Oscar Wilde. It is also delivered wonderfully, with perfect expressions that make the witty lines even more funny. Attention is, at times, required to catch these little expressions, but they are what help make the film so great. Also: I loved the casting. I loved it the first time I saw the film. I appreciate the casting even more now that I've read the actual play--the actors portray the characters exceptionally well, with all the quirks and nuances that I gleaned from the book. The add-ins (like the knight in Cecily's daydreams) make the movie, in my opinion, even more delightful. It should be quirky, and, thank goodness, it is. I highly recommend this film--it is a very well-done, lighthearted story full of wit. I definitely enjoyed it.

Brilliant, lovely, impeccable casting by the entire Oliver Parker's production team. Almost perfect performances by GORGEOUS actors and actresses upon beautiful costumes design, greenest of the countryside, and exquisite interior decorations. This Oscar Wilde adaption will no doubt remain timeless for the next three decades at least before another remake emerges in Hollywood.

Everything's so agreeable except Reese Witherspoon's cast here... Parker must have been mistaken for Christ sake! Witherspoon is so NOT right for the choice. Her indifferent beauty and bubbly profile are totally incompatible with the rest of the casts - who has got the lordly Englishness. She plays the "ward" of Jack Worthing (Colin Firth) who's kept and schooled in his country house, no wonder.