An Ideal Husband (1999)

AN IDEAL HUSBAND takes a while to get going.  The first hour's 
torturous, with the high-profile cast's acting styles and energy 
levels both wildly out-of-sync.  (Well-toothed Julianne Moore ap-
pears all but tranquilized in her first scene!)  That leading men 
Jeremy Northam and Rupert Everett look alike doesn't aid early un-
derstanding of the story, either.  (Are we watching flashbacks or 
concurrent events?)  The sumptuous sets and keen costumes should 
hold your attention, though, as will Wilde's frequently-fired bon 
mots.  (Oscar Wilde, whose play the screenplay is based on.)  Mer-
cifully, things get better in the second half.  The cast finally 
gels and is aided by some subsequently slightly screwball plot-
ting.  The devilishly handsome Everett is a charmer to *his* last 
scene, that's for sure.  I daresay the sight of E. getting down on 
one knee is worth the price of admission alone.  Nor do I doubt 
that too many folks will walk away disappointed by the humdinger 
of a happy-ending-times-two that, in fact, left Friday night's 
Rialto crowd clapping and cheering.  With Cate Blancett, Minnie 
Driver, and John Wood.  (Rated "PG-13"/96 min.)

Grade: B-

Copyright 1999 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros