The Importance of Being Earnest

1952 movie

Rating: 17/20 (Jen: dozed off)

Plot: Two rakish pals, Jack and Algernon, decide to both be Earnest instead in attempts to win the hearts of their beloved. Things get wild, and that pun, ladies and gentlemen, is intended.

When folks discuss using CGI to adapt or update older films or make brand new films with computer-generated John Waynes and Humphrey Bogarts, I always get really excited. I think that sounds like a terrific idea! I mean, they inserted John Wayne into a Coors beer commercial years ago. That was a turning point in my life actually, the exact moment when I decided I was going to start drinking. And I've never looked back. Technology could do wonders with this movie. For example, there are characters I'd really enjoy seeing naked in this movie, most obviously Edith Evans, and I think we're at a technologically-enlightened time when computer graphics geniuses should be able to handle something like that. And speaking of Edith Evans, her delivery of the line "A handbag?" is probably the most perfectly-delivered line I've ever heard, and all 17 rating points (I debated giving it a 17 1/2, but we don't do fractions here at shane-movies) are because of that line. No, that's not true. I liked the performances, almost universally, even though they reminded me of the staginess of movies from the 1930s. I was surprised at how funny this movie actually was, mostly that sophisticated kind of comedy where you don't want to laugh as much as you want to golf clap or chuckle inwardly or say, "I say, that certainly was witty," and then cough delicately into a napkin but not delicately enough to keep your monocle from falling off. The writing is clever and randy. I find it impossible to believe anybody ever talked like these characters do which really makes this, in my mind, the 1950s equivalent of the second Matrix movie except with much less kicking and punching. Maybe the CGI gurus could add some kicking and punching when they update this. This movie benefits from its simplicity. The Victorian setting is a colorful one, and my television screen was stuffed with lots of pretty things to look at, but theres' nothing really flashy or frilly with the direction so that we're focused on what we should be focused upon--these pretty ridiculous characters and their ridiculous dialogue. Satirical , still fresh, shaded with irony, and as expected with something that Oscar Wilde penned, intelligently funny, like verbal slapstick for stuffy squares.

Reportedly, this is Ass Masterson's third favorite movie. I wonder if this really is a link between the dastardly villain and Cory, who recommended it to me, or if I'm just being paranoid again.

4 comments:

  1. Very funny review, not quite as funny as this movie, but classic Shane. The word that comes to mind when I think of this film is "delightful", but I'm not sure I can use it since I'm not gay. I agree that it is close to a stage play in presentation, but it is a great exercise in pure fun. Edith Evans is terrific, and the film is filled with enjoyable things to look at and listen to. A 17, as well, and I'm happy you liked it. If you need a replacement it will be "Taming of the Shrew" with Taylor and Burton. I forgot to ask if you had a replacement for "...Kaspar Hauser".

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  2. Since the advent of DVD, I usually watch movies with the subtitles on. There is something about not missing a word of the script that I enjoy. It pays off best when watching English period farces and anything with Michael Cera. (Watch "Superbad" with subtitles, and he has the best lines.)

    It's been years since watching this, but I have fond memories and now am tempted to watch it on DVD so that I can catch ever clever line.

    I agree, people never talked this way, but that is why movies exist. I would use CGI to recast this film with Phil Hartman as Jack and Bruce Lee as Algernon.

    92/100 which is an A-

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  3. Cory, here's a list of movies I've written about and used the word delightful, sometimes ironically:

    Whisky Galore!
    The Day the Earth Caught Fire

    So yeah, the top two are your recommendations. Possibly you're a closet homosexual?

    Hobgoblins
    Buster Keaton shorts including the Twilight Zone episode he was in
    Elevator to the Gallows (definitely not delightful...but hey, I'll make that my replacement for 'Kaspar Hauser'!)
    13 Tzameti
    Hudsucker Proxy
    Danny Deckchair

    I'll watch the (probably delightful) 'Taming of the Shrew' some time.

    Kairow, I don't know how to turn the subtitles off on the upstairs dvd player, but I like 'em. And that Phil Hartman/Bruce Lee combination is brilliant. But that 92/100? C'mon, man! Remember, we're seeing a movie Friday...don't be embarrassing me in front of the other moviegoers by trying to use an unsanctioned rating system.

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  4. Shane,

    We're seeing a movie about luchadores fighting monsters. I am pretty sure my rating systems will be the least embarassing thing.

    You say unsactioned, but I say ahead of it's time.

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