I love Oscar Wilde. I love his life story, his poetry, his drama and his children's books. His plays have been, another matter altogether. Reading Wilde's plays, it is obvious, can nowhere near be as pleasing as having them performed. Although flush with quotable and clever lines, the cinematic adaptation of these works in modern times, about 100 years after Wilde's death, have been a hodgepodge mess.

"The Importance of Being Earnest" works here but it must strive against nearly every obstacle the filmmakers and actors can place in it's way. No one seems concerned with creating a work that either updates Wilde's play or creates a sort of reproduction of what the performance must have originally been like. This film, made by the same folks that brought us the adaptation of Wilde's "The Ideal Husband," a couple of years ago, seems hopelessly adrift.

Most obviously, the music seems all wrong. I am no scholar but the score here seems closer to 20's style jazz than the tines that must have been popular in the 1890's, when the text was first written. Likewise, the acting seems a bit jangled and daft. Rupert Everett seems hopelessly lost playing Alge. He doesn't seem to understand how to hit the right tone ever in the play. Likewise, Colin Firth (Brigit Jones's Diary) seems lost in the play's nuances. Dame Judi Dench has a better time of it until her last minute conversion.

Yes, there are some amusing moments and Wilde's quips often resonate with much hilarity. 100 years after his death, his cleverness still often stands intact. It's a true credit to the man's genius that this film was even made. It's just too bad nobody, especially adaptor/director Oliver Parker, can seem to figure out how to make Wilde's work perfectly contemporary. There is someone out there who will make a Wilde film that is as beautiful and witty and clever as the author was in his day. Until then, Wilde fans will just have to remain mildly amused, and chagrined.

Note:

Also with Reese Witherspoon and Tom Wilkinson.

The play has been filmed at least 6 times prior to this incarnation. The 1952 version was recently released on DVD.

Report Card Script: C+ Acting: B- Cinematography\Lighting: B+ Special Effects\Make Up: C Music: D- Final Grade: C+

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