Lady Bracknell: 'Are your parents living?'
Jack Worthing: 'I have lost both my parents.'
Lady Bracknell: 'To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.'
Oscar Wilde was possibly the wittiest man who ever opened his mouth. If you haven't read his play, on which this movie is based, then I totally recommend it. It's the funniest thing I've ever read, and that includes Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.
The plot revolves around two wealthy and decadent men in London around the turn of the century. Both lead secret lives: Jack Worthing pretends to be his wild brother Earnest when in the city, so that he can live the good life and keep his good reputation, while Algernon Moncrieff has a conveniently sick friend called Bunbury, whom he 'visits' when he wants to escape into the country. Jack is in love with Algy's cousin Gwendolyn, but the marriage is opposed by her battleship of a mother, Lady Bracknell. Jack unfortunately was found in a bag left at a railway station, and Lady Bracknell refuses to establish an alliance with a man whose family heritage is a cloakroom. Things really begin to get complicated when Algy decides to woo Jack's ward Cecily, by pretending to be the infamous Earnest.
Clever as it is, the plot is no more than the coathanger on which the
wordplay and satire of social values are hung. The movie isn't the classic the play is, but it does do Wilde's brilliant script justice. Some great lines are cut out, but there are some good bits that are new, such as the scenes involving bills at The Savoy restaurant, which, unlike some film adaptions of famous literature, are seamlessly worked into the original story. The quality cast, including Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon and Judi Dench, does a fine job of being seriously silly, though there were moments when I thought things got a little too serious. 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is a bit like a Monty Python movie in that way: the more absurd it is the better. The movie's best scene, involving muffins and despair, is it's silliest.
'Earnest' is all about frothy wit and rich British people with nothing better to do than stand around in gorgeous rooms making ridiculous statements. It has no more substance than a meringe, but it is just as fun to taste.
7/10
Jack Worthing: 'I have lost both my parents.'
Lady Bracknell: 'To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.'
Oscar Wilde was possibly the wittiest man who ever opened his mouth. If you haven't read his play, on which this movie is based, then I totally recommend it. It's the funniest thing I've ever read, and that includes Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.
The plot revolves around two wealthy and decadent men in London around the turn of the century. Both lead secret lives: Jack Worthing pretends to be his wild brother Earnest when in the city, so that he can live the good life and keep his good reputation, while Algernon Moncrieff has a conveniently sick friend called Bunbury, whom he 'visits' when he wants to escape into the country. Jack is in love with Algy's cousin Gwendolyn, but the marriage is opposed by her battleship of a mother, Lady Bracknell. Jack unfortunately was found in a bag left at a railway station, and Lady Bracknell refuses to establish an alliance with a man whose family heritage is a cloakroom. Things really begin to get complicated when Algy decides to woo Jack's ward Cecily, by pretending to be the infamous Earnest.
Clever as it is, the plot is no more than the coathanger on which the
wordplay and satire of social values are hung. The movie isn't the classic the play is, but it does do Wilde's brilliant script justice. Some great lines are cut out, but there are some good bits that are new, such as the scenes involving bills at The Savoy restaurant, which, unlike some film adaptions of famous literature, are seamlessly worked into the original story. The quality cast, including Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon and Judi Dench, does a fine job of being seriously silly, though there were moments when I thought things got a little too serious. 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is a bit like a Monty Python movie in that way: the more absurd it is the better. The movie's best scene, involving muffins and despair, is it's silliest.
'Earnest' is all about frothy wit and rich British people with nothing better to do than stand around in gorgeous rooms making ridiculous statements. It has no more substance than a meringe, but it is just as fun to taste.
7/10