Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful film version of teh Oscar Wilde play
Review: An Ideal Husband is an English film based on a comedy by Oscar Wilde. It's about how a group of English aristocrats handled the threat of a scandal a hundred years ago. How we handle everything has pretty much changed since then, and, in that sense, some of the movie's story is dated. Mr. Wilde's wit and style, however, remain as sharp as every. His characters' interactions and, most importantly, conversations with each other hold their own against the very best of today's situation comedies. Things are going splendidly for Sir Robert Chiltern [Jeremy Northam] and his wife, Lady Gertrud [Cate Blanchett]. He's a hot ticket in English politics, and she, herself a respected social figure, is steadfast by his side. Their honor is beyond reproach. It seems the sky's the limit, socially speaking, until Laura Chevely [Julianne Moore] comes to London. It seems Laura has a letter indicating that Sir Robert's fortune may not have been gained in an ethical fashion, and she blackmails him. The victim must turn for help to his best friend, Lord Arthur Goring [Rupert Everett], whose sole goal in life is to accomplish absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, Sir Robert's sister, Mabel [Minnie Driver], is hopelessly in love with Lord Goring. He has no intentions of marrying anyone. That would blemish his hard-earned reputation. There is a parallel with modern politicians' desperate attempts to avoid scandal, although I doubt Mrs. Chevely's information would have much impact in today's cynical climate. This is not the part which seems most dated. It is the relationships between the sexes which have changed so radically, and it is in this area that some viewers will be lost. Both Lady Gertrud and Lord Goring are types which are now practically extinct. An Ideal Husband was meticulously cast with performers who are perfect for their roles. The costumes are wonderful, as are the sets. Of course, in England you can still recreate almost any time period with the right street or the right estate. It is Mr. Wilde's words that remain the centerpiece, and it those with an ear for language who will most appreciate this cinematic bon mot. These are characters who know that the best defense in life's stickiest situations is to talk one's way out of it. [Historical note: In his own life, Wilde was unable to do the same.]
Rating:
Summary: An Ideal Husband (is Forever)
Review: If you are a fan of witty sophisticated dialogue, expertly delivered by a very capable cast, treat yourself to Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband". Rupert Everett is cast perfectly as the living embodiment of self-absorbed Lord Arthur Goring, the well-born son of old money and quite happy to pursue a life of profound idleness. The story, while centered on an international investment scheme promoted by a woman of mystery and dubious character, Mrs. Laura Cheveley (Julianne Moore), describes with sharp unerring wit, timeless facets of the human condition that define us as, well... human. Wilde's take on friendship, fidelity, greed, ethics, political maneuverings, betrayal and ultimately the love we all seek, is pure delight. The film, adapted from Wilde's 1895 stage play, is a visual feast of elaborate costumes and lush interior sets. The story moves along at a fairly good pace. The acting throughout is top-notch, noteworthy for mention is Cate Blanchett (of "Elizabeth") who always delivers a polished performance. This is a film that is heavily nuanced with rich descriptive dialog and can be enjoyed again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie
Review: I dont watch much tv and less movies but this was an exceptional exception. A fuuny, witty, romantic and intrigueful movie, I laughed throughout, and have seen it three times. It is addicting as it is welcome relief from the usual romantic [stuff] out there, this is romance with brains and wit, not for the simple minded.
Rating:
Summary: That's Amore!!
Review: I love LOVE this movie! I am sure I have seen it more than eight times since it's initial release...So, beware of it's addictive qualities! This is one of those movies I tell people at the local video store about. As soon as I spot a couple looking for a great flick, I ask if they have seen "An Ideal Husband". It's that good. Minnie Driver, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, and my new favorite guy, Rupert Everett are the main players in this scrumptious, scandalous tale set in London. It's a period film filled with fabulous homes and costumes. This movie has everything...love, scandal, letter-chasing, intrigue, politics, affairs, and of course lies. Everybody is involved in gossip. Who was with who?, Who did what?...and the fabulous threads of lies and manipualtion that trickle through the ever twisting and changing plot. The acting and cast are fabulous. I couldn't have asked for better. Julianne Moore plays a bewitching role as the scandalous visitor from Vienna who loves to start trouble.
The man caught in the middle of the whole mess is Aurthur (Everett), basically the main character that stands amidst of all tradgedies and intrigue that revolve around him and his friends and lovers. He keeps himself busy surrounded by so many catastrophies of the heart, while searching his own. This movie is a must-own. Charming and fun, it's like a great game of Clue. Who did What, Where, and with Whom.
Rating: 
Summary: Wilde tamed.
Review: Oliver Parker's screen version of 'An Ideal Husband' leaves very little of Oscar Wilde's original play, save a few lines he has modestly allowed remain beside his own fabrications (which include a bizarrely anachronistic flashback in which a Mephistophelean aristcrat tempts an ambitious civil servant into fraud with the insight that 'Knowledge' is 'power'). The plays of Wilde, like those of Beckett, cannot be taken from the rarefied, static stage, for which they were intricately contrived, and speciously 'opened out'. The structural movement and thematic complexity of Wilde's work depends on the theatre functioning as a microcosm for a society based on roles, costumes, masks, plots, etc. Farcical contrivances that seem natural on the stage look silly on screen (e.g. the central business with assignations and rooms in Goring's house). Stylised characters and situations wither when placed in a 'realistic' and 'psychological' context, and with them dies the preciously artificial dialogue (this is not helped by leaving out crucial plot points and inserting redundancies). The restless pace and imbecilic breaking up of dialogues in different locations destroy all momentum. Treating these marionettes as 'people' makes the play seem either an improbable melodrama or a harmless satire, endorsing the hypocrisy Wilde savages. This is not to say Parker's adaptation is entirely worthless. he moves the play's centre away from the dull central marriage onto the two far more enjoyable outsiders Lord Goring and Mrs. Cheevely. (This might make nonsense of Wilde, but showcases the marvellous and sexy Rupert Everett, the one actor in the ensemble who seems to know that acting in Wilde requires as much stylised training as Shakespeare). It is here that Wilde's delight in paradox emerges most playfully: Goring the louche, idle, womanising and possibly homosexual aristocrat makes a much more ideal husband than the publicly feted but hypocritical and criminal Sir Robert. It is this outsider who works hardest to protect the status quo, by encouraging its members to lie and rewrite the past; the sexually loose and dangerously independent Mrs. Chevely tries to bring it down by telling the Truth. Parker self-reflexively includes Wilde in his own play, setting the work in the year of his fall and imprisonment, showing precisely what's at stake. On the other hand, he sets up Lady Chiltern as a latterday Suffragette, only to knock her down, returning her moral power to her husband (although Parker makes her such a prig we probably won't mind). Thankfully, he doesn't overegg the 'contemporary relevance' (yawn). There is little of the terrifying dissolution of identity threatening the characters in Wilde, but, in a heritage film of typical visual flaccidity there is one exquisite shot where happy couples are framed in proscenium-arched curtains, Parker finally admitting that you can take Wilde out of the theatre, but you can't take the theatre out of Wilde.
Rating:
Summary: A successful adaptation after all.
Review: While the personality of Wilde is interesting for our contemporaries, his work is not in tune with the times. It is not the cult of beauty and the elegance of speech, thought or clothes that is valued by cinema-goers. This is a fact. The task of Oliver Parker has been, I am sure, ardous to make palatable for the current public this wonderful play. And thank God, it has been quite successful without betraying dear Oscar but a little more than it was strictly necessary. There is another adaptation of the play by Alexander Korda (1947). That was a film in which every word was Wilde's, although not all Wilde. Parker has seen that film and uses its structure in some places, particularly showing to us how Chiltern adresses the House of Commons. Instead, it is curious that both the basic plot and the lines given to the actors are considerably cut or altered. He even adds some wildean-sounding lines that are conspicous for lacking the acuteness of Wilde's -one can easily tell-. What is bad in my view: most of the original words are omitted, the acting style is not quite of my taste -they whisper their parts most of the time when they should speak with panache and energy-, Everett admittedly "underplayed" Lord Goring, it'd wish he had overplayed... But if all this is the price for making "An ideal husband" available and acceptable for our contemporaries, it is for the good. Although Wilde played cleverly with the formalities and hipocrisies of his time, this was exactly the salt and the grace of his talent: let in on the undecurrents with a beatutiful formal frame. I'm sure that not speaking slangy and being so formal is not good for many people today. They forget that people in jeans and T-shirts have their rules, like people in frock coats had. Let us remember that "being natural is simply a pose, and the most irritating pose I know". Certainly! The actor who plays Sir Robert is incredibly adequate for the part and makes it believable. And so does Cate Blanchett -she manages to play Lady Chiltern without parody- Rupert Everett set to "underplay" Lord Goring, it is a pity. But the most important is that the film comes through.
Rating:
Summary: Wilde about it!
Review: An outstanding cast (including our very own Cate Blanchett)brings Oscar Wilde's delightful play to life. The title is a red herring surely - it's the simmering contempt between the dastardly-but-delicious Mrs Cheevley (Julianne Moore) and seriously sweet Gertrude (Cate) that drive this farce along. Lord Goring (Rupert Everett) is never boring, and is suitably matched by a sparkling Minnie Driver. Even Oscar makes a cameo. As the Wilde man said "the good end happily, and the bad unhappily, that's why it's called fiction". A charming, gorgeous romp to be enjoyed over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable and well acted
Review: can't get enough of these ensemble players - everyone was
fantastic and interesting and passionate. thumbs up for costumes
and decoration.
julianne moore was outstanding, as always rupert everett could beat the pants off of anyone if he is given good script.
Rating:
Summary: Wilde at his best
Review: Wilde's wit is so true to the form in this film. You can't help but laugh out loud. The performances of the entire cast are very good. A good addition for a private VHS collection.
Rating:
Summary: Can't-Miss Casting for Wilde Classic
Review: Oscar Wilde was a brilliant satirist, issuing biting but humorous commentary about the times in which he lived. "An Ideal Husband" is one of his best plays, and this version of the tale is perfectly executed. The casting is flawless, with Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett and Minnie Driver playing their roles with arch perfection. For fans of the cast members, Oscar Wilde, or period pieces, this film will not disappoint.
|
