Review of A Good Woman (2004) by David C — 17 Jul 2007

Best in Show: Scarlett Johansson.

One for the future: Scarlett Johansson.

Stand-out scene: Playboy's cruiser.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

DVD.

I just had to erase the memory of the appalling screenplay to Cabin Fever by ensuring that the very next movie I saw had a guaranteed antidotal gem of a script. Who better to turn to than Oscar Wilde, whose play Lady Windermere's Fan has here been turned into a full length feature by British director Mike Barker (To Kill a King). I was not disappointed as the zingy script - which offered up such classic bon mots as "we are all in the gutter but some of are looking at the stars" - reassured me that when a measure of effort is put into a movie's screenplay the end result can be transcendent. Much criticism has been put forward regarding Helen Hunt's believability as a femme fatale and while the actress is by no means an eyesore, I agree that alternative casting for the role of Mrs Erlynne would have been more appropriate. However, Hunt is by no means entirely miscast and her portrayal certainly carries enough charm to ensure that the movie is not marred by her inclusion. Erlynne is a serial mistress who has to leave 1930s New York when disgruntled wives band together put a stop to their husbands subsidising her lifestyle. Fleeing to the Almafi Coast, she meets Lady Windermere (Scarlett Johansson) and her hubbie Robert (deep dish Mark Umbers) and it initially appears that her aim is to literally pump the latter for money. All is not as it seems however, and a suitor for Lady W arrives in the guise of British playboy Lord Darlington (Stephen Campbell Moore). Wilde gets to vent much spleen regarding his thoughts on the institution of marriage through the proceedings, sprinkling in a distaste for gossip merchants and the trappings of high society living along the way, all to great comic effect. The beautiful coastal setting adds an extra dimension of enjoyment and memorable cinematography from Ben Seresin does the superb source material maximum justice. A triumph.