Easy Virtue
Dir: Stephan Elliott
2008
***
I enjoyed Easy Virtue but I don't think it was all that it could have been. I have to say I'm a little surprised by what Stephan Elliott didn't do though, rather than what he did do. There were hints of F. Scott Fitzgerald's flare, Evelyn Waugh's wit and P.G. Wodehouse's off-beat humour but none of the "..cheek and chic, pose and poise" of its author, Noel Coward. The cast were good, Jessica Biel's being the standout performance of the film which I have to admit surprised me as much as it did entertain. Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth were also very good as was all of the supporting cast, I just don't think they were allowed to be everything they could have. The film had all the ingredients it needed and yet came across as a Sunday night TV special. Good but just not flamboyant enough.