From reader Don Hauptman:
I recommend the film A Good Woman, which is based on the Oscar Wilde play not of the same name.
The screenplay significantly reworks Lady Windermere’s Fan, but retains the basic story and themes, as well as the key characters. The film updates the play by several decades, relocates it to the Continent, and transforms several roles from Britons to Americans.
Notwithstanding the changes, it’s difficult to go too far wrong with Wilde, and much of the wit and charm of the original are preserved, including a plethora of Wildean epigrams in the dialogue. The film is in the genre once called a “comedy of manners,” a term that now seems mostly to be used disparagingly by the intelligentsia. Performances range from competent to outstanding, though I agree with some Internet reviewers that a few parts might have been better cast.
Today, in an era of overpraised cultural mediocrity and forgettable trash, it’s a pleasure to see onscreen something that is elegant, witty, and literate. But I suggest that you move fast. The film has received little attention aside from some predictably scathing reviews, and it’s likely to be out of theaters soon.
Flash! I wrote the above yesterday immediately after seeing the film; today, as feared, it’s no longer playing anywhere in New York City. A check of www.imdb.com shows that it’s still in cinemas in a few cities, including Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Palm Desert, Ca. Check that site periodically to see if it shows up at a theater near you. If not, wait patiently for the DVD.
