Review of The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) by Aida G — 18 Nov 2018

The film that I have watched recently is "The Importance of Being Earnest". It is a 2002 British-American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Oliver Parker, based on Oscar Wilde's classic comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest. Why did I enjoy it so much? To begin with, the cast is just striking. Stunning Reese Witherspoon as Cecily Cardew, the one and only Colin Firth as Jack Worthing/Ernest, handsome Rupert Everett as Algernon "Algy" Moncrieff and more! Besides, the story brings up serious problems of the society without being boring and humorless.

Set in the nineteenth century United Kingdom, the film tells the story of two friends, who lead a double-life. Jack Worthing is a 35-year-old respectable gentleman who is a guardian of Cecily Cardew. In the countryside, he pretends to have a younger brother, Earnest, who always gets himself in trouble and has a lot of debts. At the same time when Jack goes to the city, he becomes his alter-ego and lives a carefree life as Earnest. At one point his friend Algy finds out about the scam and decides to go to Jack's countryside house, pretending to be Jack's younger brother. He falls in love with young Cecily and becomes determined to marry her. Jack also has a loved one. Her name is Gwendolen Fairfax and she knows him by the name of Earnest. One day she decides to visit her lover. The important thing about these two ladies is that they both for some reason are extremely attracted by the name Earnest and are sure that they can only love someone with that name. All the characters meet in the countryside and the chaos begins. Will they be able to figure things out and forgive each other's the lies? Watch the film to find out.

"The Importance of Being Earnest" is a great film to watch with your family and friends. The plot and the humour of the adaptation will not leave anyone indifferent, so I highly recommend giving it a try.