An Ideal Husband | | Cast : | Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore | | Director : | Oliver Parker | | Studio : | Miramax Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | June 18, 1999 | | DVD Released Date : | February 18, 2000 | | Language : | English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 09, 2005 | | Summary | Cunning for love | Content
 | This is a sly, smart story of women and their manipulation of men and love. Clever dialogue, cunning ploys, and outsmarting of selves creates a fun adventure of an age old dilemma, love. How do men and women ever end up together? |
| Rating | | | Date | May 15, 2005 | | Summary | Delightful romantic comedy full of intrigue and betrayal | Content
| Member of Parliament Lord Robert Chiltern is blackmailed by the wicked Mrs. Cheverly, with a secret from his youth, leading to a crisis in his life, and in his marriage to the virtuous Lady Chiltern. It is up to his friend, the delightfully foppish Lord Goring to help extricate him. All is well that ends well, but not after much interplay and intrigue.
This adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde is beautifully done. It is not a production of the wilde play itself and departs from the play itself in various parts. but it is donbe fabulously so that unless you are VERY familiar with the original work by Wilde , you cannot see where this is done. The dialogue is brilliant throughout as is the setting , and the casting is fabulous.
A nonchalant Rupert Everett as the cynical dandy Lord Goring , Julianne Moore seems as if she was typecast for the villainous Mrs Chevely , Jeremy Northam , Cate Blanchett and Minnie Driver all prefect for their parts and providing never a dull moment in this delightful romantic comedy full of intrigue and betrayal.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 23, 2005 | | Summary | Good laugh! | Content
| I love this adaptation and so do my students everytime I recomend it to them after discussing the play. I only miss one part,
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it's the affair of the missing brooch. Besides this, Everett is the kind of bon vivant we all love and his character is my view of an ideal husband. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 26, 2004 | | Summary | Elegant fun | Content
| I actually enjoyed this more on DVD than on its original release in the theatre. The making of featurette is watchable without giving away too much of the plot, although you might want to save it until afterwards.
The cast is highly watchable and all well up to their jobs. The only exception I might make is Minnie Driver. Although I like her, I couldn't help but feel she was miscast in what was meant to be an alternate take on the classic ingenue part. It didn't help that there was little chemistry between her and Lord Goring. Or that her strong red and black costumes emphasized the modern, while everyone else was dressed in standard period clothing and colors. This is a fairly minor quibble, though.
I enjoyed Rupert Everett as the well-born, razor tongued society wastrel...clearly a stand-in for Wilde himself. Julianne Moore is stunning as the predator who sets everything in motion. And Cate Blanchett and Jeremy Northam were of course wonderful as the perfect couple. I could have used a few more scenes showing both them and their marriage, instead of just having to accept what everyone says about their happiness. Jeremy Northam was excellently cast. He is absolutely believable as the kind of man you can still believe is honest and good, even when he's caught cheating. That's important. The story doesn't really work unless you believe he is a good man.
As for the "question of nudity" discussed by an earlier reviewer: I watched the opening scene closely to see if what he posted was true. Is the woman leaving Lord Goring's bed really Gertrude (Blanchett)? I don't think so. The woman's hair is curly, yes, but it is bright red. Blanchett's hair in this is a medium blonde. It seems more likely to be Julianne Moore's scheming character than Gertrude. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 19, 2004 | | Summary | "IT'S NOT THE PERFECT, BUT THE IMPERFECT WHO NEED LOVE" | Content
| Don't let the aristocratic costumes deceive you, this is not a story of stifling high-teas consumed in opulent drawing rooms! It's a deliriously enjoyable comedy with colorful dashes of shady plots and mischievous romances. While a good deal of the wickedly whimsical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play derives from antics that're suited to stage farces -- switched letters, mistaken identities, farcical blackmailing & ensuing intrigue -- it is ultimately a very, very witty and fast-paced comedy that you'll see more than once, quite likely back to back. Rupert Everett is the heart and soul of the film, the screen positively crackles when he is on screen delivering his spate of one-liners. Julianne Moore is equally vibrant, if only in a more ascerbic skin. Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver and Jeremy Northam round out the splendid cast that'll have you hooked. Despite its maniacal exterior, the movie couches a virtuous message and a beautiful heart. An ingenious gem that your collection is incomplete without. |
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