The Importance of Being Earnest Movie Review 2002

Jack Worthing (Firth) has invented a brother, Earnest, in order to leave the dull country and visit lovely Gwendolyn (O'Connor), the daughter of the formidable Lady Bracknell (Dench), in London. His best friend Algernon Montcrieff (Everett), who is Gwendolyn's cousin, also has a make-believe chum named Bunbury to get Algy out of boring situations. Then Algy decides to pose as Earnest in order to woo Jack's country ward, Cecily (Witherspoon). But when everyone ends up together, chaos threatens. Based on the play by Oscar Wilde and filled with bon mots, director Parker felt compelled to "open up" the production, which only works some of the time. But the performances are all delightful and Witherspoon manages her English accent quite nicely.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 100 minutes.
Originally from United States, British.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Books to Film: Oscar Wilde, Not-So-True Identity, Period Piece: 19th Century, Period Piece: 19th Century, Great Britain, Adapted from a Play, Romantic Comedy, Cousins

Screenplay

Oliver Parker

Cast

Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Massey, Edward Fox, Patrick Godfrey, Charles Kay, Finty Williams

Cinematography

Tony Pierce-Roberts

Director

Oliver Parker

Music

Charlie Mole

Other

John Midgley, Guy Bensley, Paul Ghirardani, Maurizio Millenotti, Luciana Arrighi

Producer

Barnaby Thompson, Ealing Studios, Newmarket Capital Group, Fragile Films, Miramax Films