A lot of Hollywood (and English) starpower was brought to bear on this adaptation of Oscar Wilde's well-known drawing room comedy "The Importance of Being Earnest" but simply assembling a group of big names (the better to sell tickets with)and loosely attaching them to a mediocre adaptation of a brilliantly written play (written for the stage, long ago) does nothing for the original story, or the viewer's entertainment. Colin Firth (known to us as the "good" suitor from "Bridgit Jones' Diary)plays his usual English uppercrust role. Rupert Everet also simply reprises his take on an upperclass layabout who is somehow found to be charming, and Dame Judy sleepwalks through her customary iteration of pretentious English nobility. Reese Witherspoon, apparently inserted into the mix to attract American viewers after her success and resultant fame in "Legally Blonde" wanders hopelessly about the set evidently enjoying playing dress-up but failing to hold a consistent English accent from one line to the next. What saves the exercise from being completely dreadful is the original cleverness and wit of the original play, which even this leaden mess cannot completely obscure. In plays of this type, mistaken identities, double entendres and wild melodramatic plot twists amused audiences of a simpler time. The play itself is still brilliant, but transposed to the movie screen largely lacks the fast-paced dialogue and delivery on which it so depends. The elaborate manor house settings and period costumes are pretty to look at, but the film rings hollow, (when you can actually hear what's being said) and it drags unnecessarily. Then again, the whole thing was unnecessary, but probably sold enough tickets, and I suppose to them that's what's really the most important thing of all.
Review of The Importance of Being Earnest
