I saw this a billion years ago on TV with a friend. We both enjoyed it. I was happy to see it released on Criterion, but it really doesn't hold up.
It takes a very slight idea and converts it into polite fare. But one would have to value the dull, superficial, unexamined, boozhie lives these characters aspire to, to enjoy the movie. With characters willing to make lifelong commitments to someone they've known for less than a day, or reverse firmly-held convictions a few times in half an hour, Wilde is mocking every one of these conventional figures. I feel his contempt, and I find it legitimate. So it's hard to get worked up about plot resolution when I never valued A marrying B, or the like, even as a flimsy pretext to tease out a few jokes. The supposedly intricate plot barely reaches a mild muddle, before it's remedy is being engineered. You'll be taking mental note that we don't construct jokes like this anymore, as the characters spin their wheels to escape paper-thin conflicts.
The Dorian Gray movie is a mixed bag but the George Sanders role is the single best embodiment of Wilde's mischievous wit. And 'An Ideal Husband' is a different genre but is more enjoyable.
It takes a very slight idea and converts it into polite fare. But one would have to value the dull, superficial, unexamined, boozhie lives these characters aspire to, to enjoy the movie. With characters willing to make lifelong commitments to someone they've known for less than a day, or reverse firmly-held convictions a few times in half an hour, Wilde is mocking every one of these conventional figures. I feel his contempt, and I find it legitimate. So it's hard to get worked up about plot resolution when I never valued A marrying B, or the like, even as a flimsy pretext to tease out a few jokes. The supposedly intricate plot barely reaches a mild muddle, before it's remedy is being engineered. You'll be taking mental note that we don't construct jokes like this anymore, as the characters spin their wheels to escape paper-thin conflicts.
The Dorian Gray movie is a mixed bag but the George Sanders role is the single best embodiment of Wilde's mischievous wit. And 'An Ideal Husband' is a different genre but is more enjoyable.