panguitch's Full Review: Importance of Being Earnest
Let me admit up front it’s been years since I’ve read Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Or any Wilde, shamefully enough. So if you want an in depth literature-as-film piece you’ll have to search elsewhere. In fact, this 2002 adaptation by Oliver Parker has suffered too much criticism from that angle for my tastes. Because despite whatever deviations of plot and character the purists may have found, I came away from the movie grateful for a Wildian experience.
The Premise
A gentleman lives under strident expectations. The only way at all for Jack to get away from his responsibilities and have any fun is to travel to London to clean up after his wastrel brother Earnest. Truth be told, there is no brother named Earnest. Once in town Jack adopts Earnest as his nom de guerre. His reputation thus protected he enjoys himself with impunity. But when he falls in love with Gwendolyn and decides to marry he finds it impossible to reveal the truth to her. After all, "the truth isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice sweet refined girl."
When his friend Algy discovers his secret, like any good friend, he steals the idea. Claiming to be Earnest, Algy shows up at Jack’s estate and sets about romancing Jack’s young ward Cecily. Meanwhile, refused by Gwendolyn’s mother, Jack returns home. Gwendolyn soon chases after and the four are thrown together with Gwendolyn and Cecily fighting over who gets to have Earnest and Jack and Algy fighting over who gets to be Earnest.
The Cast
Colin Firth does very well as Jack, though it’s hard for me to think of Firth as a wild man about town. In any case, if roles like Pride and Prejudice’s Darcy have unduly influenced your opinion of the actor—as they had mine—you’ll be delighted by the comedy Firth accomplishes here.
Granted, much of that comedy comes as Firth’s acting plays foil to Rupert Everett’s acting in the role of Algy. Everett is, to some degree, reprising his part as Lord Goring from Parker’s An Ideal Husband. But he’s not one whit less enjoyable for it. This is Everett doing what Everett does best. Perhaps the only flaw is in Algy’s instantaneous transformation from a ne’er-do-well playboy to an ardent suitor, a jump even Everett’s talents can’t quite overcome.
Frances O’Connor is a headstrong Gwendolyn. She handles the role rather well, making pretenses at dignity in ridiculous scenes like her drive to Jack’s estate, and making haughty jabs at Cecily as they fight over Earnest. Perhaps the part should have a greater maturity or awareness of societal norms written into it, but I didn’t miss such things.
Cecily is perhaps the weakest point of the film, though Reese Witherspoon’s effort is admirable. Her accent is certainly passable and she gives Cecily just the right immaturity. But I couldn’t help but be distracted by the fact that I was watching Reese Witherspoon in an 1890s England setting.
Judi Dench’s perfectly crusty Lady Bracknell (Gwendolyn’s mother) is also worth mentioning, though she was overshadowed by the four leads.
The Review
The lavish costumes. The luscious landscapes. The stately manors (and manners). The witty exchanges. And most of all, the accents. The Importance of Being Earnest has everything we expect from a period English comedy. But there’s one thing writer/director Oliver Parker has left out: restraint.
For good or ill Parker wanted more than what Wilde gave him. Though the characters’ situations and dialogue alone can carry the play, Parker added elements of gratuitous silliness that can only be excused by their . . . silliness. Cecily’s romantic fantasies come alive in visions reminiscent of a Pre-Raphaelite La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Jack and Alby’s last ditch attempt to keep their women is comprised of a, perhaps anachronistic, but entirely charming serenade. Their argument over the appropriateness of eating muffins devolves into hand slapping. And Gwendolyn has the name Earnest affixed to her posterior with needle and ink.
This lack of restraint might sour the film for some. Isn’t dry the word that’s supposed to characterize British humor? Is all this just lowering Wilde’s work to a meaner level? Well perhaps it’s a flaw of my mood or even my character, but I can appreciate a little silliness from time to time. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a Monty Python adaptation. But to me the small intrusions of silliness were refreshing.
So I even liked the movie’s transgressions. And Parker deserves some credit for setting up certain scenes deliciously, like Jack’s torturous navigation of Lady Bracknell’s mansion and interview. But the carrying force is the dialogue and acting. Firth and Everett make an oddly complimentary pair, and O’Connor makes up for the unfortunate incongruity of Witherspoon (I do prefer brunettes).
Of course, dues must ultimately be given to wily old Oscar himself. While Parker’s adaptation lacks Wilde’s social sarcasm, the spirit of the movie struck me as unmistakably Wildian. And there’s never been a better writer of comedies. I’d go as far as to say his are every bit as good as Shakespeare’s. But I have to admit I haven’t bothered reading the Bard in quite a while either, which further proves my heretical bent. So feel free to discount my opinion in whatever way makes you feel best about yourself. Just be sure to give this a spin sometime.
– Panguitch
Jack: "What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman."
Alby: "The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she’s pretty and to someone else if she’s plain."
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