The Importance of Being Earnest

A screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play of 1895. Two men have invented false identities. Jack has made up a brother called Ernest so he can enjoy himself in town. Algernon has invented a sick friend so he can escape town. Both approach the women they love through those lies. The problem: both women want to marry someone called Ernest, and the name is more decisive than the love. Wilde's text is a mockery of the class order, the marriage market and English seriousness, dressed as a romantic comedy. Most of the lines still work directly today. The most cited scene is Lady Bracknell interrogating Jack: she examines the candidate's income, house and family with the thoroughness of a civil servant. Rupert Everett plays Algernon, Colin Firth plays Jack, Reese Witherspoon and Frances O'Connor the two women, and Judi Dench Lady Bracknell. Oliver Parker directed. A pleasant choice for anyone who likes Wilde adaptations and period comedy. For a viewer looking for fidelity, the film adds to the play and, by visualising some scenes, loosens jokes that Wilde built out of words alone.