A colleague mentioned The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), and I of course thought she meant the 1952 version. I'd never even heard of the "Colin Firth" one.
It turns out that Firth is Jack/Ernest Worthing, with Rupert Everett as Algy Montcrieff. France O'Connor is Gwendolyn, and Reese Witherspoon is Cecily. And of course, Judi Dench is Lady Bracknell. It starts with Everett evading the police and dropping in on Firth. This sets up Algy as a bit more of a bounder than I am used to. There is also some stuff (based on material Oscar Wilde cut) about Jack, or Ernest as he's known in the city, skipping out on dinner tabs to maintain his reputation as Jack's imaginary scapegrace brother.
Other than that, this is mostly just Wilde's play that we know and love. There is a little bit of daydream imagery here and there among the lovers, but nothing too out there.
I think everyone plays their part well, but you want to know about Lady Bracknell. Dench did a fine job, but delivered the line "A handbag?" in a sort of shocked whisper. I guess after Dame Edith Evans' big delivery, you have to try a different spin. But the later line, "The cloak room at Victoria Station" hits it just right.
We enjoyed this, since it was Wilde well delivered, but I don't think they beat the 1952 version. It would be hard to do.
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