An Ideal Husband

Surprisingly, An Ideal Husband is at its clumsiest when attempting to be delightfully droll, even though delightful drollery was indisputably playwright Oscar Wilde's forte; the first two reels are crammed with superb bons mots, but most of them are delivered in a strained and faintly exhausted manner, as if the dream cast (including Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver and Julianne Moore) were still too busy trying to remember their lines to deliver them confidently and naturally. Matters improve considerably once the complicated plot gets fully underway and the picture's QPM (Quips Per Minute) falls below 10; relieved of the burden of being bottomless repositories of scabrous wit, the performers relax somewhat, lending the final act's numerous confrontations and confessions an unexpected (and welcome) undercurrent of emotional gravity. Then again, come to think of it, perhaps they don't relax at all, and it's simply a case of director Oliver Parker's inappropriately leaden touch turning what ought to have been a hilarious farce into a bizarre, semi-effective hybrid: one-half painfully unfunny trifle, one-half strangely compelling drama. Either way, my opinion of the film, initially unfavorable in the extreme, improved slightly approximately every fifteen minutes. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)