Adaptation of Noel Coward's 1925 comedy reminds us that time has marched on.
Comment
04/29/09
Easy Virtue (2009)
51
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:113
Fresh:58
Rotten:55
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: A lightweight and pithy Noel Coward adaptation with plenty of sparkle and fizz.
Theatrical Release:May 22, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $2,537,150
Synopsis: Adapted from a Noel Coward play, EASY VIRTUE is essentially a tale of Old World manners vs. New World freedom. The year is 1929, and John Whitaker (Ben Barnes) has just married a feisty American... [More]
Starring: Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Barnes
Director: Stephan Elliott
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Reviews for Easy Virtue
A clumsily written, surprisingly foolish and misdirected adaptation.
04/23/09
This cinematic opening of Noel Coward's play should inspire Broadway and Hollywood alike to tackle some more of the playwright's output.
04/21/09
Easy Virtue is not an entirely satisfactory outing; it's too chaotic for that, but it's certainly a great wheeze that blows ample life into period comedy.
03/13/09
It is a sure-footed, entertaining period piece, a revamp of a Noel Coward play from the '20s that never takes itself too seriously, yet never treats its source material with contempt.
03/13/09
There are some very ragged segues but thanks to Biel's sparkle and Firth's unexpected flair for the tango, honesty finally trumps hypocrisy and the pacey ending sends you out on a high.
03/13/09
It’s potentially a creaky old yarn but Elliott, working with screenwriter Sheridan Jobbins, has imbued the film with an energy and a beauty that is beguiling.
03/13/09
The often outrageous Steph Elliott is a surprising choice to make a Noel Coward adaptation, and a surprise it is for us too, in the best possible way. Elliott injects two special ingredients: a naughty sense of edgy fun ..and a splendid soundtrack
02/17/09
With a delicious zest for life and a casual disdain for the upper middle class, Stephan Elliott's happy return to directing is piquant joy.
02/17/09
This 1920s play by Noel Coward still dances along like a sprightly flapper, defying the passage of the years, thanks to Stephen Elliott’s energetic direction.
11/10/08
While its tone occasionally wavers and there are some wobbly performances, this has moments of true lightness, and a welcome sense of whimsy often missing in the costume genre.
11/07/08
Overall, the film’s never less than lively – with Kris Marshall a nifty scene-stealer as the wise butler – yet you do get the sense that greater discipline all round would have made even more of it. As it is, it’s fizzy, but variable.
11/07/08
Stephan Elliott's best film since Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Easy Virtue should satisfy fans of Coward, despite its differences to the original. A pity then that, despite Biel's sprightly turn, it feels better suited to the small screen.
11/07/08
But worst of all is the incessant, unbearably smug soundtrack that drills its way into your brain like a parasite.
11/07/08
Yet another period movie starring Colin Firth? Er, yes. But hang on. Director Stephan Elliott has cleverly filed down the Cowardy-sharp archaisms and by some miracle made something that seems very now.
11/07/08
Firth and Biel perform a rather elegant tango together, which cheers things up a little, but this is a heavy-footed affair.
11/07/08
If you can cope with the excruciating soundtrack medley (a jazz cover of Sex Bomb?) it's a perfectly jolly bauble.
11/07/08
Easy on both eye and ear, this jaunty little number has many virtues to commend it.
11/07/08
It’s playful, it’s elegant, it’s fizzing with lacerating wit… after the stone-faced dreariness of The Duchess and Brideshead Revisited, it’s a welcome jolt of fresh air to see a Brit period piece you can just kick back and enjoy.
11/07/08
It is poorly shot, indifferently acted camp, based on a rightly forgotten Noel Coward comedy.
11/07/08
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