Rating: 
Summary: Elegant fun
Review: I actually enjoyed this more on DVD than on its original release in the theatre. The making of featurette is watchable without giving away too much of the plot, although you might want to save it until afterwards.
The cast is highly watchable and all well up to their jobs. The only exception I might make is Minnie Driver. Although I like her, I couldn't help but feel she was miscast in what was meant to be an alternate take on the classic ingenue part. It didn't help that there was little chemistry between her and Lord Goring. Or that her strong red and black costumes emphasized the modern, while everyone else was dressed in standard period clothing and colors. This is a fairly minor quibble, though.
I enjoyed Rupert Everett as the well-born, razor tongued society wastrel...clearly a stand-in for Wilde himself. Julianne Moore is stunning as the predator who sets everything in motion. And Cate Blanchett and Jeremy Northam were of course wonderful as the perfect couple. I could have used a few more scenes showing both them and their marriage, instead of just having to accept what everyone says about their happiness. Jeremy Northam was excellently cast. He is absolutely believable as the kind of man you can still believe is honest and good, even when he's caught cheating. That's important. The story doesn't really work unless you believe he is a good man.
As for the "question of nudity" discussed by an earlier reviewer: I watched the opening scene closely to see if what he posted was true. Is the woman leaving Lord Goring's bed really Gertrude (Blanchett)? I don't think so. The woman's hair is curly, yes, but it is bright red. Blanchett's hair in this is a medium blonde. It seems more likely to be Julianne Moore's scheming character than Gertrude.
Rating: 
Summary: A Question of Nudity
Review: "An Ideal Husband" is a wonderful drawing room farce. Nodbody does them better than Oscar Wilde and this is a great interpretation of Wilde's play. However, I've read over a hundred reviews here and elsewhere and most -- if not all -- of the reviewers appear to have 'missed the boat.' That is, in the opening scene at Lord Goring's (Rupert Everett - who is wonderfully cast, by the way) bedroom, where a woman nude is 'glimpsed' sneaking away from the bed -- and the butler's eyes. I thought it was simply an establishing scene for Lord Goring's character (or lack of). HA! Did I drop the ball... Instead my wife pointed out (after the movie) that the woman was not the prostitute most reviews identified but GERTRUDE. I was shocked and bet otherwise; then I played the DVD (using the pause function to pay it second by second) several times. Yes, it was Gertrude; the wavy hair is the give away since the distant figure is otherwise out of focus!!! I lost the best, but gained a whole new appreciation of the film. With this in mind, watch "An Ideal Husband" again and everything is different! Gertrude's smug attitude and moral indignation take on an entirely new flavor; the ending, where her husband glosses over the 'revelation' about note suddenly makes sense. It's a new film. I love it when a director can make a film work on so many levels. Bravo!!!
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