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From Amazon.co.uk
For truly clever dialogue and a smartly structured plot, you can't go wrong with Oscar Wilde. Wilde's play An Ideal Husband is not his best known, but this film adaptation has all the wit you could ask for and a cast with the chops to deliver it: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, Oscar and Lucinda), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights, Short Cuts), Minnie Driver (Grosse Pointe Blank, Big Night), Jeremy Northam (The Winslow Boy, Emma), and especially Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding, A Midsummer Night's Dream), who tosses off perfect epigrams with unflappable aplomb. The plot hinges on Northam, a member of Parliament (the British governing body, not the funk band) with a skeleton in his closet who is blackmailed into a shady business deal by a lady of mystery (Moore), who turns out to be a loathed school chum of the parliamentarian's wife (Blanchett). Everything is resolved happily, but not until after some devious twists of fate, several mistaken identities, lots of comic banter, and much social skewering. Wilde, whose troubled life and public exposure of his homosexuality is chronicled in the movie Wilde (1997), has a sharp eye for hypocrisy and the artificial poses demanded by society--but political commentary never gets in the way of a smart laugh. Visually sumptuous and briskly paced, An Ideal Husband will satisfy anyone looking for social satire or romantic comedy. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com
Product Description
This screen adaptation of the celebrated Oscar Wilde play stars Rupert Everett as Lord Arthur Goring, a playboy who becomes embroiled in a scandal, both personal and political, when his best friend Sir Robert Chiltern MP (Jeremy Northam) is blackmailed by the devious Laura Chevely (Julianne Moore). Whilst attempting to aid his friend, Arthur becomes socially entangled with both Mabel Chiltern (Minnie Driver) and Laura, the latter enticing him with a tempting wager. The subsequent misunderstandings cause farcical repercussions to be felt around their entire social circle.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By fkoepping77
Format:DVD
This is the sort of film that you really want to own. It loses nothing and gains detail the more often you watch it. Rupert Everett's lack of leading roles is a great loss to film, as he has the looks, timing and presence to carry off any number of romantic leads. I don't see what an actor's private proclivities have to do with what they portray on screen - Cary Grant being an interesting topic in that respect. Anyway, it's a fantastic script, a good plot, a serious message in a fluffy film with a happy ending. Perfect Sunday-night viewing.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Angus Bell
Format:DVD
Having read the other reviews I have to slightly disagree with the overall tone - this is the perfect comedy of manners with outstanding performances by the whole cast. Jeremy Northam plays a gentle shy man conflicted by ambition and his morals whose wife Cate Blanchett puts him on a pedestal to worship. The subsequent revelation of the hypocrisy at the heart of their marriage is deliciously decorated by all the supporting cast who are manipulated by Rupert Everett enjoying the finest hour (or two!) of his career so far.
The DVD benefits enormously from a home cinema system as every word drips with double meaning! It is my favourite dialogue film of all time and far, far, better than The importance of being ....
The DVD benefits enormously from a home cinema system as every word drips with double meaning! It is my favourite dialogue film of all time and far, far, better than The importance of being ....
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
the perfect social satire: one can not beat Oscar Wilde and Rupert Everett is the perfect incarnation
10 Jun 2008
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place over the course of three days. "Sooner or later," Wilde notes, "we shall all have to pay for what we do." But he adds that, "No one should be entirely judged by their past.
The movie is classy and captures uppper-class London to perfection. The language is wonderful and the lines really amusing like "Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious" or "Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear" or "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.".
If you like Oscar Wilde you will enjoy this movie as Rupert Everett here as Lord Goring really is the best movie actor to portray an Oscar Wilde character. Cate Blanchett - Lady Gertrude Chiltern -,Minnie Driver - Miss Mabel Chiltern, Julianne Moore - Mrs. Laura Cheveley, Jeremy Northam - Sir Robert Chiltern and John Wood - Lord Caversham - give splendig performances too.Director Oliver Parker has created a real gem.
The movie is classy and captures uppper-class London to perfection. The language is wonderful and the lines really amusing like "Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious" or "Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear" or "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.".
If you like Oscar Wilde you will enjoy this movie as Rupert Everett here as Lord Goring really is the best movie actor to portray an Oscar Wilde character. Cate Blanchett - Lady Gertrude Chiltern -,Minnie Driver - Miss Mabel Chiltern, Julianne Moore - Mrs. Laura Cheveley, Jeremy Northam - Sir Robert Chiltern and John Wood - Lord Caversham - give splendig performances too.Director Oliver Parker has created a real gem.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'll be honest, I could watch Rupert Everett reading the phone book for 90 minutes and would probably give it five stars. However this is a perfect film for him and it's good to see him in a leading role rather than a gay cameo (sounds like a great tribute band...) for once. On the flip side, Jeremy Northam is colourless and Minnie Driver seems very uncomfortable in her role (try Grosse Pointe Blank to see how good she is when she's well cast), and like so many films (cf. My Best Friend's Wedding) it does flag a bit when Everett is off screen. Julianne Moore does an English accent so much these days I'm always faintly surprised to hear her speaking American and confusingly makes a more convincing Englishwoman than Driver.
However it's Rupert Everett's film through and through. Wilde's words are the words he was born to speak and it's very, very funny - director Oliver Parker has managed to successfully transfer a play to the big screen, a challenge many experienced directors have failed. Can't wait to see him reunite Rupert Everett with his Another Country co-star Colin Firth in The Importance of Being Earnest - but will tape my sides up in advance in case they split...
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Joe
Format:DVD
Marked down from 5 to 4 because of the poor sound production at times, but still worth watching nevertheless.
This is a film where the words are crucial, it is based on a play by Oscar Wilde after all! So why did they think it would be a good idea to have obtrusive 'background' music spilling into the foreground and nearly drowning out the speech? Not all the time, but enough to take the edge of an otherwise excellent film.
Forget a night at the theatre, just watch this, though now I've seen it I will take the opportunity to go and see the play if I can.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Furio
Format:DVD
Obviously derived from Wilde -some quotations feel contrived indeed- this is a good film as long as you disregard its main theme, that of everybody's being imperfect and that real love and maturity are achieved by accepting one's partner and oneself for what they really are, flaws and all.
In fact, when dealing with the matter, the rhythm skips some beats, acting become less convincing and the script even more so.
Much is to be enjoyed instead: the accurate rendition of a specific time, with fabulous costumes and settings, the good acting and the continuos, spotless bantering of the different characters that, when forgetting about Wilde, sounds sharp and cutting and convincing on the actor's mouths.
Poor Everett has to deal with more Wildean lines than everyone else and that he can survive them tells us volumes about how good an actor he is.
Do not misunderstand me, I love Wilde and I am sure each of these actors would be perfectly capable of doing one of his plays: unfortunately this is not one of his plays and the script, elsewhere sparkling, suddenly loses gloss when Wilde is being enacted. Or when the attempt is made at conveying the deep theme mentioned above.
Therefore enjoy this choral comedy, for whatever good it has to offer but forget Wilde and be merciful on the more profound moments.
In fact, when dealing with the matter, the rhythm skips some beats, acting become less convincing and the script even more so.
Much is to be enjoyed instead: the accurate rendition of a specific time, with fabulous costumes and settings, the good acting and the continuos, spotless bantering of the different characters that, when forgetting about Wilde, sounds sharp and cutting and convincing on the actor's mouths.
Poor Everett has to deal with more Wildean lines than everyone else and that he can survive them tells us volumes about how good an actor he is.
Do not misunderstand me, I love Wilde and I am sure each of these actors would be perfectly capable of doing one of his plays: unfortunately this is not one of his plays and the script, elsewhere sparkling, suddenly loses gloss when Wilde is being enacted. Or when the attempt is made at conveying the deep theme mentioned above.
Therefore enjoy this choral comedy, for whatever good it has to offer but forget Wilde and be merciful on the more profound moments.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful romantic comedy full of intrigue and betrayal
Member of Parliament Lord Robert Chiltern is blackmailed by the wicked Mrs. Cheverly, with a secret from his youth, leading to a crisis in his life, and in his marriage to the... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Gary Selikow
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fab rom-com
I love this film. All the cast are great, especially Rupert Everett & Minnie Driver. Just a fab rom-com. You won't be disappointed.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. J. Turner
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Sedate Oscar Wilde Story
This is a fun film of the Oscar Wilde comic play he wrote in 1895. Set over a short couple of days, it has intrigue, love, romance, blackmail and a bit more. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Geraldine Le Roes
4.0 out of 5 stars
Remak justified
When a previous version was aclassic it is hard to produce a good remake. This I think will keep both the people who know the original and new watchers happy.
Published 4 months ago by M. R. Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Ideal Husband
It is a brilliant movie. The dialogues are witty. It is the kind of movie that you can watch several times without getting bored.
Published 12 months ago by Olga
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quintessential English Movie
Watched this when it came out with my wife and we didn't finish it. Was so glad when I
found the DVD as it was unfinished business. Read more
found the DVD as it was unfinished business. Read more
Published 19 months ago by M. A. Adu
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect husband
Have you ever looked at a person who seems to be perfect in every way, and thought to yourself, "No one is perfect. They must have done something wrong, sometime. Read more
Published 22 months ago by E. A Solinas
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, well acted comical dvd
Pleased to get this on DVD as an old video we have is now worn out and not working well.
Published on 5 April 2011 by BeeTee
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sound level is poor
I had already seen this film on TV and wanted to add it to my DVD collection. Its an ideal film for those quiet moments with company where a less explosive film is requiered. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2010 by Mr. Michael Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is real great comedy ¡¡
I love this film ¡¡ is an inteligent comedy , actors are superb ,everything is marvellous. Thanks amazon ,now i have it.
Published on 28 Jan 2010 by Mariana Pineda
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