Movie Review The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) 

Directed by Oliver Parker 

Written by Oliver Parker

Starring Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Dame Judi Dench

Release Date May 17th, 2002

Published May 17th, 2002 

When considering the works of Oscar Wilde one should wonder what this most quotable of writers would say of our current culture. Wilde believed that art should not be popular, and when you consider modern American cinema you might say that we have achieved Wilde's belief. Indeed art in modern American cinema is not popular. Popular as defined as gaining widespread viewership and appreciation. Think of the best filmmaking in this day and age, the most artistic works are very often the least seen. Such is the case with the most recent of Oscar Wilde's works adapted for the screen The Importance Of Being Earnest, artistically brilliant but by previous definition not popular.

The film was adapted and directed by Oliver Parker who previously adapted Wilde's An Ideal Husband to great artistic and little popular success. Parker here re-teams with his Ideal Husband star Rupert Everett, who takes the role of Algernon. One of those brilliant cads who seems to have endless charm and wit yet never a job or responsibility. Algernon's closest friend is Earnest or rather Jack depending on who he is speaking to. Earnest-Jack is played by Colin Firth as an English nobleman who keeps up the appearance of class by taking the name Earnest when in the city and the more respectable name of Jack when at his country estate. Complications arise when as Earnest he meets the woman of his dreams Gwendolyn (Frances O'Connor). Gwendolyn knows him only as Earnest and has a particular affinity for the name that makes confessing his real identity very difficult.

Back at Jack's country estate his new ward Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) is nursing a small crush on the man she only knows as Jack, that is until a visit from Algernon. Of course this too has complications as Jack has warned Algernon to stay away from the country house and especially Cecily. So while Jack is in the city trying to win the hand of Gwendolyn, Algernon travels to the country to meet Cecily. Of course he cannot go as Algernon because the staff would send him away so HE takes on the name Earnest and poses as Jack's brother. Meanwhile Jack as Earnest is trying to convince Gwendolyn's mother Lady Bracknell (Dame Judi Dench) that he is of proper breeding to marry her daughter. Unfortunately his family history is conspicuous at best.

Well everyone knows where this story is going as similar more recent stories have populated films for years. With Oscar Wilde it is never about where the story is going but how it gets there. Getting there in a Wilde story is all about witty repartee and The Importance of Being Earnest overflows with quotable dialogue and farce. Dame Judi Dench especially gets on with the witty dialogue, it seems every line from her character is memorable. Indeed each character's dialogue is so good the story becomes superfluous.

Director Oliver Parker perfectly captures the spirit of Wilde's text, just as he did in An Ideal Husband and he surprisingly tops that film’s sly humor. The performances by Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are superb, especially Everett who seems to have been born for this material. Reese Witherspoon puts on a strong English accent and wears it well. She has a couple of brilliant scenes with Frances O'Conner, likely the funniest in the film.

If I had any complaints about the film they would be that the story goes beyond meaningless. There really is no meaning in the film whatsoever, which may actually have been Wilde's aim, but it strikes a false chord. In fact at the very end of the film Wilde's dialogue calls the whole film’s story into question with a subtle reference to the film’s title that implied an entirely different story altogether. To explain it would ruin the surprise, but it was a reference that in Wilde's time was a scandalous aside despite now having less meaning and impact. See it for yourself if you can figure out the meaning let me know.