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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
The Importance Of Being Earnest
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
2 stars out of 4
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In this updating of Oscar Wilde's comedy of ruses, Colin Firth and
Rupert Everett play 19th century British bachelors who impersonate "Ernest," a
figment of their imaginations, to facilitate affairs of the heart with Frances
O'Connor and Reese Witherspoon. It's a funny, wicked Victorian love story about
mistaken identity - and the identities we choose. It seems John "Jack" Worthing
(Colin Firth) is besotted by Gwendolyn Fairfax (Frances O'Connor), the cousin of
his dandy, disreputable friend Algernon Moncrieff (Rupert Everett), who, in
turn, slyly fancies Jack's young ward, Cecily (Reese Witherspoon). But both
women are fascinated by "Ernest," the non-existent, ill-behaved, London-based
younger brother whom Jack has invented to allow him to leave his dull country
manor to escape to the city as often as possible. Adding to the romantic folly,
Cecily's tutor Miss Prism (Anna Massey) falls in love with shy Doctor Chasuble
(Tom Wilkinson) and hides a dark secret. Mingling with an all-English cast,
Reese Witherspoon's flawlessly clipped accent is solid, keeping pace with Colin
Firth, Rupert Everett and Frances O'Connor. And it's always fun to watch Judi
Dench play a cranky dowager like Gwendolyn's mother, Lady Bracknell.
Unfortunately, however, this film is not as nimbly executed as writer/director
Oliver Parker's previous romp, "The Ideal Husband." Tending toward naturalism,
Parker gets too serious and his choice of Dixieland jazz for the soundtrack is
discordant. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The Importance of Being
Earnest" is a frothy, farcical 5. Better yet: rent the new DVD of Anthony
Asquith's cheeky, droll 1952 version, with Sir Michael Redgrave and Dame Edith
Evans, which makes the most of Wilde's hilarious humor and heart.
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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