In 1890s England, two upper-class friends, Jack Worthing (Firth) and Algernon Moncrieff (Everett), have lived the high life partly through the use of fictitious personalities they either pretend to be or use as excuses to get away from tiresome social commitments. A crisis occurs after Jack falls in love with sweet Gwendolen Fairfax (O'Connor) and "Algy" develops an interest in Jack's 18-year-old ward, Cecily Cardew (Witherspoon) -- and both men have been using the name "Ernest Worthing"! Judi Dench is a little off her game in playing the majestic Lady Bracknell as a one-dimensional battleaxe rather than the shrewd elderly operator she is, but the other players are delightful. Writer-director Oliver Parker's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's beloved play probably won't become the definitive film version or even replace the 1952 movie with Michael Redgrave and Edith Evans -- some of his innovations (Gwendolen gets a tattoo?! Cecily's fantasy sequences) are a bit over the top -- but it is a charmer for our time.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
