This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This film is self-described as "based on" Oscar Wilde's stage play, and that's accurate. Scenes are not in the same order, quite a bit of the characteristic Wilde dialog has gone missing, and some other material not in the play has been interpolated. Nevertheless, it's entirely fun to watch and entirely worth it.My wife and I think this might be Wilde's best play, because it cuts a bit deeper than his more famous Importance of Being Earnest and really does have a serious message to go with the trademark Wilde comedy and unbeatable wit. The message at the end being, simply, that people need to give each other some slack -- extend forgiveness rather than judgment. Thankfully, lots of the wit is still there, and no one could do that like Wilde. The acting is fine, led by Rupert Everett as Arthur Goring: all the Wilde plays have a character who represent Wilde himself, and Arthur is the best case of that. We just came back from seeing the Stratford Festival production where Arthur was played to the hilt as a Dandy, which in Wilde's time was almost a technical term and which Wilde himself put out as his public persona. Excessively mannered behavior, extravagant and expensive yet weirdly tasteful suits, a quick wit ready to emit a clever opinion on anything at all, and comments that sound self-contradictory yet contain insanely clever aphorisms. The movie version doesn't quite do justice to that -- in fact all the main characters are somewhat muted from the more extreme versions you can pull off on the stage. Overall it's a great cast. Julianne Moore is fine as the villainously smooth snake who ignites the ticking time bomb that makes up the plot, Jeremy Northam and Cate Blanchett play the husband and wife pair who gradually come to understand each other, and themselves, better as they go along, and Minnie Driver is their sister who finally maneuvers Arthur into proposing, much to his own surprise.It's all a fun ride, though you end up wondering if they could have produced a version that would have been a bit more faithful to Wilde's text. As a last comment, the settings are very nice; both lavish and accurate for ca.1890's London society.

Jeremy Northam is "An Ideal Husband" who's about to get his clock cleaned by Julianne Moore in this gorgeous rendition of Oscar Wilde's play, also starring Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, and Minnie Driver.Northam is Sir Robert Chiltern, happily married to his lovely and adoring wife, Lady Gertrude (Blanchett) and guardian to his unmarried sister Mabel (Driver). He is in Parliament and opposed to an Argentine canal project. Then he is visited by Mrs. Laura Cheveley (Moore) who tries to blackmail him into approving the project. She knows how he gained his wealth and position. If his wife finds out, she'll be devastated. In desperation, he turns to his bachelor friend Lord Arthur Goring (Everett) for help. Goring attempts to help, and for a while, it looks like he made things worse.This witty comedy is given wonderful direction by Oliver Parker, and the production is sumptuous. The actors all underplay, letting the brilliance of the material come through. Especially funny is the scene where everyone is in a different room of Lord Goring's house, with no one aware that the other is present. Most times, you'd see a scene like this with the host a frazzled mess, running around, trying to keep everyone quiet and hidden. Here, Everett never changes his expression and is unflappable, making the situation funnier.Highly recommended as the way a classic play should be filmed.

Oscar Wilde's play has been made into movies many times. There was even one made one year before this version. I can't comment on the other versions, but Oliver Parker certainly adapted the play with and very good screenplay and excellent direction to give us a glimpse of 19th century British aristocracy with a magnificent cast to boot.Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park, Emma) was excellent as a man who had a terrible secret in his past that was to be brought to the light of day by Julianne Moore (The Hours, Boogie Nights), who was looking to get rich. He had thought that no one knew, and his political career, and even his marriage to Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Notes on a Scandal) was to come to a crashing end.But, Sidney Carlton to the rescue, as his best friend, Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding) got himself another Golden Globe nomination as a friend that would risk all for another.The repartee in this film is what makes it so special, and you cannot help by laugh at all the great lines delivered by the principals, including the ever lovely Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting).Outstanding costumes and makeup in the period piece that is worth watching more than once for the hilarious lines.

Parker's adaptation follows the tradition of source author Wilde: the glamour, grace, charm and delight of moneyed society mask a viper's pit of self-interest, and personal and political manipulation. Rupert Everett is born into roles of this period and provenance with his chiselled charm and diverting ease with women and men alike. The trio of women with whom he consorts as if they were, alternately, courtesans and diplomats, are superb. Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett might be relied on to be delicate but deadly damsels but I was pleased to see that Minnie Driver could not only hold her own but also create and occupy a different role from the other two.This is not a one-trick picture with people simply being suffocatingly courteous and then sticking in the knife but populated with real characters creating a real sense of a fragile surface patina to their behaviour, as at risk as the more substantial lives which it represents. Parker directs with a discreet hand and the production is beautifully designed. 6/10