MOVIE · 2002

The Importance of Being Earnest

ComedyDramaRomance97 min

In 1890s England, two young gentlemen both answer to “Ernest” when it suits their social and romantic lives, until overlapping courtships turn a private deception into a public tangle. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth lead the farce as friends juggling invented names, marriage plans, and increasingly awkward explanations, while Reese Witherspoon, Frances O’Connor, and Judi Dench fill out the circle of admirers and watchful elders around them. Adapted from Oscar Wilde’s play, the film keeps the story in drawing rooms, country houses, and polite society, where every small lie has a way of becoming everyone’s business.