This screen version of the Oscar Wilde play is gorgeous to look at, has an all-star cast and opens out the action superbly. I'm still not quite sure what audience the producers hoped to attract but then who would ever have guessed a movie entitle "Shakespeare in Love" would win the Oscar as the year's best picture.
Of course, Wilde's original play isn't quite in "The Importance of Being Earnest" class, (and in a nice touch the characters here attend a performance of that very play), but director Oliver Parker pulls out all the stops and the end result is very entertaining. The epigrammatic Wilde character is Lord Goring and Rupert Everett fits the part like a well-tailored glove but again it's the women who hold court and both Cate Blanchett, (Lady Chiltern), and Julianne Moore, (the very devious Mrs. Cheveley), are excellent while Jeremy Northam is a surprisingly effective Sir Robert. Indeed. it's hard to fault the piece. I'm sure and intelligent and grown-up audience will agree.
Of course, Wilde's original play isn't quite in "The Importance of Being Earnest" class, (and in a nice touch the characters here attend a performance of that very play), but director Oliver Parker pulls out all the stops and the end result is very entertaining. The epigrammatic Wilde character is Lord Goring and Rupert Everett fits the part like a well-tailored glove but again it's the women who hold court and both Cate Blanchett, (Lady Chiltern), and Julianne Moore, (the very devious Mrs. Cheveley), are excellent while Jeremy Northam is a surprisingly effective Sir Robert. Indeed. it's hard to fault the piece. I'm sure and intelligent and grown-up audience will agree.