This one snuck up on me!

Easy Virtue was only something I'd heard distant rumors of, faint rumblings through the walls. But here it was tonight, thrust in my face! And it found an eager welcome...

From the opening taut title sequence it comes across as a Moulin Rouge!-lite, or moreso an homage. But considering it's pedigree - - what with it being a reboot of Alfred Hitchcock's 1928 version of Noel Coward's story, and the first film in almost a decade by director Stephan Elliott, who directed Priscilla Queen of the Desert, lo these many years ago - - it might almost be considered a proto-Moulin Rouge!...

Calling Easy Virtue a ROM-COM almost seems too trivial to accomodate the surprising depth of this tale, yet there are certainly strong elements of both romance and comedy throughout.

The acting was uniformly great! Jessica Biel holds her own (as mentioned in the film) against an all British cast of pros featuring Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas (say no more!), and the lately hunky Ben Barnes, acquitting himself well here. And Kris Marshall who steals many scenes as Furber the Butler (you might remember him from Love, Actually or Death at a Funeral). And finally, Hilda and Marion, the two sisters, ably characterized by Kimberley Nixon and Katherine Parkinson with deft melodracomic style.

It's really a shame that this film is getting such a stealth release here in June of all months - - this is the kind of movie that might find a very appreciative audience for it's acerbic charms and forthright philosophy in the movie dog days of March - - but nevermind, it will ultimately be found by it's audience in the fullness of time...

out of





{Note: I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was produced by the reincarnated Ealing Studios! Any film fan worth their salt, should be familiar with at least some of their productions, such as Alec Guinness' classic early comedies, eg: The Ladykillers. The Man in the White Suit, The Lavender Hill Mob, and Kind Hearts and Coronets, as well as my personal favorites: the utterly charming Whisky Galore!, and the utterly creepy inspiration for the Twilight Zone... Dead of Night. This forgotten studio is a British legend, and was responsible for more than it's share of amazing cinema!}

Very enjoyable! I loved Jessica Biel and Colin Firth here, and really liked the ending. I was kind of hoping it would go there, but wasn't so sure it would.

Grade: 7/10 ( B )

B


I enjoyed it fair enough. It's a pretty light and amusing British comedy with a solid cast. Kristin Scott Thomas takes the cake for the best performance of the ensemble. Jessica Biel is surprisingly good too, though I think that she is at her limits here. She does all she can, but I think that a more skilled actress would have gotten more out of this great role. Colin Firth is is usual reliable self. Only Ben Barnes, as in his other roles, remains pretty bland in his part as Biel's boyfriend.

While I did enjoy the film, I also kept thinking that with a better leading actress and a more skilled director this could have been a much bigger blast. The film just wasn't as biting and mean as the material suggest that it could have been. Therefore, I also regard it as somewhat of a missed opportunity. It is nicely filmed and the art direction and costumes are impeccable. But something's just missing and I have a feeling that the problem lies with the screenplay and parts of the cast. Also, Biel is supposed to be "the older woman" to Barnes' character and while Biel is actually older than Barnes, it is still kinda hard to see her as "the older woman" given her splendid looks.

I did enjoy its ending, though...and Biel's scenes with the dog (before and after its demise).