An Ideal Husband on DVD: Delicious Wit, Drama and Connivery

Based on a play by Oscar Wilde and set in England in at the end of the 19th century, An Ideal Husband, adapted and directed by Oliver Parker has all the wit and charm of The Importance of Being Earnest also by Oscar Wilde. Plus it has a complex dramatic plot about truth, trust, manipulation and betrayal. The crux of the matter is as Miss Mabel says, there is a difference between what one looks at and what one sees.

Lord Arthur Goring, perhaps not An Ideal Husband, is a frivolous, idle, but charming man who is beginning to feel the pressures of filial obligation. Sir Robert Chiltern is a parliamentarian with strongly held principles and strict scruples. He and his wife Gertrude, who is a leader in women's politics, are held up as beacons of all that is best about modern England at the close of the century. Miss Mabel Chiltern, Gertrude's best friend and sister of Sir Chiltern, insists upon refusing repeated offers of marriage because she has a secret fondness for Lord Goring.

One day Mrs. Cheveley comes back to London from her home in Vienna to enjoy a few days of the London social season. She bears with her the power to persuade significant personages to help further her interests by advancing the acceptance of an Argentine enterprise capitalizing on the success of the Suez Canal. Hence commence the manipulations, betrayals and questionings of previously accepted truth and trust in An Ideal Husband.

One of the most brilliant aspects of this all round splendid film is the exquisite set (Michael Howells) and costume (Caroline Harris) design in An Ideal Husband. Everything has the touch of actuality and authenticity. Continuity is also achieved, even though the various decors are as different as a drawing room done in the faintest hints of soft green with blush pink accents and a suite of rooms all done in indigo and maroon with black and gold trims.

Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding) outshone all the glittering trimmings of room and physique. His portrayal of Lord Goring, a foretaste of his role as Algy in The Importance of Being Earnest with Colin Firth, also by Oscar Wilde, is the pinnacle of finesse and subtlety. He is perfect in An Ideal Husband.

Julianne Moore (Laws of Attraction) was surprisingly enjoyable as Mrs. Laura Cheveley. Her impressive skill at portraying a beautiful but hardhearted schemer in An Ideal Husband mostly compensates for the times she seems and sounds more American than English. I wasn't sure she could pull it off, but she mostly triumphs beautifully.

Made in 1999, An Ideal Husband is a gem of a film well worth dusting off if you already own it or buying or renting if you don't. An Ideal Husband is so richly textured in performances, dramatic story, emotional story, wit and production that it merits repeat viewings. I rate it 4 3/4 Stars, dropping it a little because Ms. Moore's role is so important a one that "mostly triumphs" does make a material difference; on top of that I was continually distracted by wondering if Minnie Driver was really a good casting choice (I lean toward, "No."). Nonetheless, even with these two bits of weakness, An Ideal Husband is only a shade off of ideal.