An Ideal Husband

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was unfamiliar with Oscar Wilde until now[sup]1[/sup], but the cast looked attractive and the plot sounded decent.

Wow. What a great movie. (I’m talking about the most recent one, by the way, with Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, and Julianne Moore.) I didn’t know what to expect, but I throughly enjoyed watching this. I think my parents thought me strange, but that was okay. This movie is now in my top five, I think. (We’ll have to see if it endures repeat watching.)

The plot was all well and good (I was up for a morality play), and I enjoyed the humor, (and I even caught the references to “The Importance of Being Earnest”), but that’s not what made the movie. I adore the way they spoke.[sup]2[/sup] It was always in complete sentences, with far too many adjectives, and somewhat circuitous. And always formal – another plus.

There were several other good moments about father-son relationships…

Anyway, I just wanted to share. :slight_smile:

[sub][sup]1[/sup]Except for one thing: my 11[sup]th[/sup] grade English teacher was constantly writing on the board something about lying in the gutter but looking up at stars.
[sup]2[/sup]And yes, I do watch Dawson’s Creek because I enjoy the dialogue. And my friends and I really did speak that way in highschool.[/sub]

2

You’re right, of course. ‘An Ideal Husband’ is clearly one of the better movies of the last few years. Largely on the basis of Wilde’s script it can carry you off to the ether. And it can always provide cheerful bon mots for conversation that none of your co-workers will get.

3

I saw that movie a few months ago, and I must agree. It was kickass. I loved Minnie Driver and Rupert Everett in it, especially their conversations together.

4

I loved this movie too! I thought the costumes were GORGEOUS; the set design was striking from the opening scene of parading in the park to the elaborate yet not too overstated elegance of the decorations in the principle characters’ homes. The cinematography was striking, and the camera angles really helped develop the nuances and undertones of the dialogue and action; and the cast, with the exception of Minnie Driver, were outstanding! Driver just seemed miscast. She couldn’t carry off the ingenue role, and there wasn’t as much chemistry between her and Rupert Everett as there was between Cate Blanchett and Everett. Everett was HOT! He played his role to perfection with just the right amount of cynical aplomb underscoring his fear of being sought as the prime catch, and Cate Blanchett added just the right mix of reluctant, jaded virtue and rebellion to her role that was the piece de resistance! :wink: All in all, as Oscar Wilde intended, it was a well put together exploration and subtle critique of the ridiculousness of the theory and praxis of aristocratic virtue endemic to that period in British history.