Written by: one-eyed Jack
‘Oh…you’re American’
Noël Coward was just 23 when he wrote Easy Virtue, a satire on the English aristocracy. Alfred Hitchcock made a silent version in 1928, and now Australian director Stephan Elliott offers a musical twist on the jazz age with - get this! - songs such as Car Wash and Sex Bomb, performed as if written by Cole Porter - although as a whole it works, in a Merchant-Ivory kind of way. Produced by Ealing Studios it is set largely in Englefield House in Berkshire, Flintham Hall in Nottinghamshire, Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire as well as parts of Oxfordshire and London.
Hollywood star Jessica Biel plays the leading role of Larita Huntington, an American girl who brings sex and scandal to an English country house when she arrives as the new wife of John Whittaker (who she married on a whim in France) but John’s father, played to perfection by Colin Firth, is soon enchanted by Larita - she’s beautiful, she’s a racing driver of all things, and she’s been married before. John’s mother, played exquisitely by a haughty Kristin Scott Thomas is plainly horrified, and things don’t get off to the best of starts when her first frosty words to Larita (upon hearing her voice) are ‘Oh….you’re American.’
So when Larita is introduced to her new in-laws, Whittaker’s mother Veronica is less than thrilled with her son’s choice of partner, taking an instantly sniffy dislike, and a battle of wits between the two strong-willed women ensues. The two women employ fair means and foul to gain the upper hand.
This is a very enjoyable variation of Noël Coward’s twenties’ culture clash between upper-class English aristocrats and a brash and bohemian American. Originally written and set in the roaring 1920s, Easy Virtue focuses on the strained relationship between feisty Larita and her very much more restrained English in-laws, set against the shadow of what was then called The Great War (which had ended only three years earlier) and the financial pressures that even well-to-do families found themselves in in the austere world of Post-WW1 Britain.
The film retains its period setting with a modern twist, including a cutting edge cast and music by the likes of Prince. The director retains the period setting but gives it a distinctly modern feel.
Kristin Scott Thomas is just perfect as the immaculately polite and stubbornly protective mother, and Jessica Biel impresses as the liberated, racy incomer. As the father Colin Firth is a man of discreet and uplifting depths, while Kris Marshall almost steals the show as the family’s dry-as-a-bone butler . Things move along at a sparkling pace, and there’s an idiosyncratic and very welcome touch in the musical choices, mixing up period gems and recent pop. Noel Coward and Prince? Elliott makes it feel like a match made in heaven. It is a droll and witty delight, a superb showcase for its cast, and a return to fine form for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert director Stephan Elliott who is relentlessly concerned with how the movie looks and sounds.
The film’s not staid, as you might expect from the setting; in fact, it’s often downright goofy, as exemplified by the character of the unflappable butler and the cruel fate of the family dog. It’s gratifyingly loose, and unpredictable moment-to-moment. It looks beautiful, it’s enjoyable from start to finish - and it’s very funny.
One small criticism is that the intriguing relationship that only begins to develop between Larita and her father-in-law is never fully exploited, a pity as both of these characters have some interesting secrets that if fleshed out could have made for a more multi-layered screenplay.
Some may be tempted to call Easy Virtue a ‘guilty pleasure,’ but there’s nothing to feel guilty about despite the middle-class sneering at the Americans that in part gives this film a small element of its identity. It’s as charmingly accomplished as it is stylishly lightweight, a rom-com with occasional flashes of real substance and overall a feast for the eyes.
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on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 9:19 am and is filed under Film & TV.
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