neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Importance Of Being Earnest
	Oliver Parker Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Massey 2001		Director/screenwriter Oliver Parker ("An Ideal Husband") was earnest in his attempt to expand Oscar Wilde's classic stage comedy of Victorian manners and mistaken identity for the screen, with sylvan exteriors, added flashbacks, sidebars and fantasy sequences. The damnably good cast includes Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and ringer Reese Witherspoon, hiding her American roots with a serviceable English accent. Algy (Everett) is a debt-ridden upper-class cad in London. Algy's best friend (Firth) is leading a double life as Jack, a country gent caring for his lovely niece Cecily (Witherspoon) on a lavish estate, and as man-about-town Ernest, wooing the beauteous daughter (O'Connor) of an arch society matron (Dench). Complications arise when Algy visits the estate, sets his sights on Cecily and passes himself off as Ernest. The farce didn't need grafted scenes; it sometimes drags when it should dart. But it suffices as a playful junket to a naïve era.