The Importance of Being Earnest

Name: The Importance of Being Earnest
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: May 22, 2002
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 60
Cast: Colin Firth, Rupert Everett

2002

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Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critics

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Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	Your Score
7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Ratings

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The Importance Of Being Earnest

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: May 22, 2002

Starring: Colin Firth, Rupert Everett

Summary: A film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's hilarious play about two young gents living in 1890's England who have taken to bending the truth in order to put some excitement into their lives. (Miramax)

Director: Oliver Parker

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: PG

Runtime: 97 min

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Critic Reviews

New Times (L.A.) - Gregory Weinkauf

Director Oliver Parker (An Ideal Husband) -- who also adapted the screenplay to include aspects from Wilde's unrevised four-act version of the play -- embraces the material with great gusto, delivering as charming and irresistible a film as one could demand.

Miami Herald - Connie Ogle

Hearing Wilde's pithy lines in her mouth -- ''London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained 35 for years'' -- is worth the ticket price. In the end it's Dench who reminds us of the importance of enjoying Oscar Wilde. Read full review

Portland Oregonian - Shawn Levy

With all this raw material, it's a puzzlement and an annoyance that Parker feels so obligated to interpose fantastic elements and comic action sequences and other tacky touches. As a result, while this "Earnest" is lively fun, it never quite feels sufficiently important. Read full review

New York Daily News - Jack Mathews

Written to skewer the upper class of its time, the script is now just a broad joke-fest, clever lines batted back and forth like badminton shuttlecocks.

Philadelphia Inquirer - Carrie Rickey

Despite good taste and good will, this romp through Victorian parlors frequently falls flat on its rump. Read full review

Salon - Stephanie Zacharek

This well-cast adaptation somehow feels obvious and overblown. Read full review

Variety - Robert Koehler

A comedy in the last century and a drama in the new one. At least, that's the dumbfounding impression left by writer-director Oliver Parker's utterly miscalculated film adaptation of Wilde's play. Read full review

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User Reviews

MobyB.

Jul 18, 2006

Extraordinary dialogue, Wilde's screwball plot--worthy of an award for comedic geometry---a cast that knows how to let the lines take centerstage. Critics who pan the way the director "opens" the play are misleading. Any faults here are secondary. The film itself succeeds with wit and bmself.

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