While its tone occasionally wavers and there are some wobbly performances, this has moments of true lightness, and a welcome sense of whimsy often missing in the costume genre.
Easy Virtue
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom, Canada · 2008
Rated PG-13 · 1h 33m
Director Stephan Elliott
Starring Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth
Genre Comedy, Romance
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A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet his parents, she arrives like a blast from the future — blowing their old-fashioned British sensibilities out the window.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
It's a pleasure to watch such top-notch actors deliver Coward's sparkling wit.
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
We could all use a little more Noel Coward in our lives. But the fizz falls flat in Stephan Elliot's adaptation of a lesser-known play, which, while blithe enough, has little spirit to speak of.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Sure, there's a plot, but it's a secondary element to the lines the actors deliver. Only Oscar Wilde has the same bite. Fortunately, Elliott understands this, which makes Easy Virtue go down smoothly.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Jessica Biel has great fun with the American adventuress, while Kristin Scott Thomas is truly scary as her nemesis and mother-in-law.
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Director Stephan Elliott uncorks a rare vintage of laughs tinged with heartache.
Easy Virtue needs a strong center to justify its celebration of American effrontery, and Biel lacks that prideful edge.
An effervescent entertainment that marks a welcome return for "Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" director Stephan Elliott after a nine-year absence.
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