# The importance of Being Ernest movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168 "2002-07-10T02:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/1 "2002-07-10T02:43:16Z")
Why isn’t The Importance of Being Ernest playing anywhere near me? Is it even out yet? I saw previews for it a while back, but haven’t seen anything for it in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linus_Van_Pelt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/2 "2002-07-10T03:57:53Z")
It’s been out for several weeks now, but it wasn’t given wide release. Your best bet would be to check the theaters in the area that show independant or foriegn films. In the Phoenix area, it was only showing at one theater. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/3 "2002-07-10T04:15:53Z")
Importance of Being Earnest, The PG 1 hr. 40 min. Starts on Friday, Jul 12 Phone: (843)762-9494 ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/4 "2002-07-10T04:17:59Z")
oops… The address… 1956 Maybank Highway, Charleston, SC 29412 ---
**Author:** ![Rib\_Eye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Rib\_Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rib_Eye)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/5 "2002-07-10T16:35:04Z")
I can’t wipe the silly grin off my face imagining the late great Jim Varney resurrected to do Oscar Wilde in full Ernest mode. It’s E-A-R-N-E-S-T. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/6 "2002-07-10T18:31:20Z")
I saw it. It wasn’t bad - perfectly cast, joyfully performed and well put together. However, I wouldn’t saw it lacked flaws, and fairly easy-to-spot flaws at that. Whenever they stuck to the text, it was great, but virtually whenever the director felt like adding something (the dream sequences, the tattoos, the car, the balloon, that one flashback at the end) it fell completely flat. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/7 "2002-07-17T12:49:31Z")
I didn’t mind the “expansion”, I think it’s almost necessary for a Victorian play being presented nowadays. I’d rate it more than “wasn’t bad,” I’d say it was very enjoyable. We (my wife and I) tend to rate movies based on value-for-money – the $ system instead of the star-system. On that scale, I’d say it was easily worth $5 to $6 for a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/8 "2002-07-17T13:37:03Z")
Yeah, not bad. [ul][li]Judy Dench was superb, as always. [/li][li]The editing was disgraceful. Perhaps they cut the film with a blunt tea cake.[/li]I was amazed at the number of people in the audience who appeared surprised at each little turn of events. [/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/9 "2002-07-17T14:33:39Z")
I thought it was fun, and I rather liked the Pre-Raphaelite scenes. Also, the costumes were neat. Was it just me, or was the music a little later period than the clothes? It looked pre-WWI, but some of the music made me think early Twenties. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/10 "2002-07-17T14:33:50Z")
It shouldn’t be possible to turn a farce as hilarious as “The Importance of Being Earnest” into a boring costume drama (a la Merchant-Ivory), but by golly, they did it! By “opening up” a drawing room comedy, and trying to make it feel more “real,” they killed everything that made the play so funny. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/11 "2002-07-17T14:39:37Z")
I thought it was terrible. My wife was recently in the play and I had seen her in it and read the play so I was very familar with the material. I can’t imagine why they added the stuff they did and why did they cut the stuff did. Why have the tats, and the smoking? These are supposed to be very proper young ladies which is what makes the tea party fight so funny. Oh wait they cut the tea party fight. Reese looked terrible. Does she have cancer or something? Most of her part was cut but it seemed to me that she had no idea of the character. **Spoiler** Lady Bracknel was a dancer knocked up by Lord Bracknel and he married her? WTF?!?! JACK is YOUNGER than Algy? WTF?! Ragtime music is around?!?! Why did they change the end? In the play you learn that John name was really Earnest all along. But in the film it isn’t. So it should be called The Importance of not being Earnest. END spoilers The play is funny. The movie was not. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/12 "2002-07-17T16:25:37Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by hawthorne \* \*\*[ul][li]I was amazed at the number of people in the audience who appeared surprised at each little turn of events. [/ul] \*\*[/li][/QUOTE] I too, was weirded-out that anyone could be surprised by so famous and popular a play. While some of the additions were ridiculous or just plain wrong, I did like what they did with the Jack’s debts. I’d strongly recommend The Importance of Being Earnest, Avon edition, edited by Henry Popkin. It contains scenes Wilde cut, and some of them are quite funny. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-importance-of-being-ernest-movie/118168/13 "2002-07-18T13:48:48Z")
The [1952](http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0044744) version of the film is widly considered superior. It recently became available on home video and DVD. I think Wilde can be hard to read if you are unfamilar with the ‘proper English’ culture he was making fun of with his plays.