Strong and Moving!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This post WWI setting sees an English country gentleman still coming to terms with the trauma of seeing 20,000 soldiers killed in a matter of minutes on the front, after being ordered over the top, including his entire company, formed of the youth from his local area. His wife, back at the rural seat, in a country that had been bled almost dry by the war, had devoted her own efforts to keeping things going, maintaining the estate, the jobs of the employees, the local life (deprived of a generation of men) and a stiff upper lip through it all. Into this scene comes a lovely young American with a 'past', who was living life to the full. A Motor city gal, she'd just won the Monaco Grand Prix, but was disqualified due to her gender. But it did attract the attention of the handsome heir to the estate, they fell for one another and were quickly married. he then takes her home to meet the family and the fun really starts. This is actually a human drama, but it sparkles with so much wit that it has been labeled a rom-com - but that's only for those who see just one side of this complex story. Not only are there the cultural clashes, over seemly behaviour, food, pastimes and treatment across class distinctions, as well as a disaster involving the family pet chihuahua, but inevitably the American's wishes for her relationship clash with what are seen as the duties of her husband towards the community and the future of the estate (which is in financial straits - and she's not a rich American). The result is that the tide turns against our heroine, reinforced by misunderstandings over that 'secret past', but she has her allies also and in the end you know that somehow she's going to be alright, whereas the destiny of those who remain will probably depend on the wealthy neighbouring landowner. But it is the pleasure of the journey that is most interesting.

No film involving Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas and Noel Coward can be all bad. Easy Virtue comes a good deal closer than it should. Coward's sparkling wit barely manages to overcome the laborious adaptation of Stephan Elliott and Sheridian Jobbins, with Elliott's cumbersome direction not helping any. Firth and Thomas are marvelous and a decent chunk of the cast follows their example as well as they can. Jessica Biel, however, is not just terribly miscast but displays the limits of her ability with an often mannered and occasionally brittle performance. The first hour of the movie is more or less enjoyably carried along by an emphasis on Coward's humor. The last half hour turns dour and lifeless. Throw in a soundtrack that is constantly annoying in its doubly anachronistic fashion and you've got a motion picture that can't manage to do more than break even.John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) is a young Englishman abroad who meets an unconventional America race car driver named Larita (Jessica Biel), marries her and the two of them return to John's family estate. His controlling, resolute mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) only wants to be rid of Larita. John's WWI veteran father (Colin Firth) is roused from his "Lost Generation" ennui by the arrival of his new daughter-in-law. John's two sisters (Kimberly Nixon and Katherine Parkinson) vacillate between being intrigued and appalled by the new arrival. John's hasty union with Larita has spoiled long-anticipated dreams of his marrying the "girl from the country estate next door" (Charlotte Riley) and Larita's desire for a city life and gainful employment are contrary to John's gentry upbringing and his mother's plans for John to take over control of the family fortune, which has fallen on hard times. A secret from Larita's past may give John's mother everything she wants, but is that what John wants?I'm not the one to compare this production with Coward's original play or the 1928 silent movie version. All I can do is evaluate 2008's Easy Virtue on its own merits. As previously mentioned, it has some but they are nearly equaled by its flaws. I don't think these filmmakers every realized that in their approach, the most sympathetic figure in the story is John's mother. She's a woman under tremendous stress from trying to hold her family together single handed, only to find the future of her home and her son imperiled by a strange interloper. As the two women struggle over the feckless John, it's hard not to root for the mother no matter what the film throws at you. And while Ben Barnes and the other performers look almost as at ease inhabiting their characters as Firth and Thomas, Biel appears very "actorly" for the vast majority of time she's on screen. She's not speaking. She's reading lines. And Biel is also far too young and fresh-looking for her role as its sculpted by Jobbins and Elliott.Easy Virtue is an easy mark for a critic. You could gush over Coward's words the work most of the actors or you could pick apart the pacing and tone and Biel's inappropriate presence. I'll say it's a movie you probably won't love but you probably won't hate it, either. Your affection for Noel Coward should probably decide whether to watch it or not.

I really enjoyed this movie the first time around since I thought it had great leads, a good sense of place and examined numerous important themes.The "7th Heaven" actress hit pay dirt here, finding a perfect movie to show her talents. She has not have had much success finding a similar role since. In time, we see the depth of her character, who at first just comes of as "outrageous." The parents of her new husband are excellent as always. Again, their characters are deeper in time, at first, they might be seen as just "characters" in a period drama. Supporting actors like Katherine Parkinson (of Doc Martin) also are good. And, there are some really wicked (the dog scenes; the can can) and touching (including toward the end) moments.I watched it again and didn't quite enjoy it as much. So, maybe it loses something on re-viewing. Maybe it was just too soon.

This film was a wonderful surprise. I usually don't particularly enjoy Biel because I've only ever seen her in films like Stealth and Next, which were both quite terrible. To be perfectly honest I only rented the film because it was based on a play by Noel Coward, whose work I adore. I was ready to be mildly pleased and somewhat saved by Firth and Scott Thomas. I was absolutely delighted when Biel's portrayal of the American female race car driver who has a somewhat shady past was witty, strong and extremely likable. It would be silly to say that Biel does not normally look very attractive; but in this film she looked beautiful and graceful in her evening gowns and fitted trousers.Firth is as dashing and gorgeous as ever as the laconic father who is silently suffering the harrowing memories of the First World War, and his repressive wife and malicious and empty headed daughters. He provides Biel with the perfect support system, making her performance stand out even more with his perfect comic and dramatic timing. Their chemistry is electric and makes Biel and Barnes' pairing looking rather dull and badly matched. The scene in which he and Biel dance passionately to Latin music during a rigid and contrived Christmas party at the family mausoleum, otherwise known as the family cottage, is definitely my favourite part and the best display of their chemistry.Overall the film is witty, wonderful and surprisingly deep. Some may feel disappointed, but I feel that this is one of Noel Coward's best works. It seamlessly shows the unhappiness, secrets, suffering and hypocrisy of the outwardly wealthy but inwardly bankrupt upper class British aristocracy; the doomed pairing of two people who are well acquainted strangers who think they are in love; and the pairing of two people who should have been together all along and finally are.