Easy Virtue (English audio)

I LOVE JESSICA BIEL AND COLIN FIRTH. THEY DID THEIR BEST, BUT IT WAS TOO LONG, TEDIOUS AND BORING IN PARTS. THEIR TALENTS WERE WASTED. THE MOST INTERESTING PARTS, WERE THE TANGO, AND THEM LEAVING.

This is an entertaining little social satire based on the play by Noel Coward, the master of such pieces. For me the star in this is Kristin Scott Thomas as the deliciously disagreeable mother in law. What a hoot she is! Colin Firth is, unusually for him, mostly rather dishevelled and exists in a haze of dope (anybody hoping to see him as the debonair and dapper gentleman he so often plays will likely be disappointed), Ben Barnes is suitably boring as a spineless young Englishman who has married an utterly unsuitable glamorous American bride. A racing driver, no less. The young bride is played by Jessica Biel who brightens up the drab atmoshere in the house like a ray of sunshine.The story is nicely developed, starting out straight enough, but becoming increasingly outrageous as the American bride becomes tired of trying to fit in with the hostile family. The longer the dreaded visit with the in laws drags on, the bolder she gets and her exploits become quite epic. While the joke with the Chihuahua may not sit well with everybody, the hunting scene and the Can Can dancing are just hilarious. And then there is that tango and Colin Firth gets his moment to shine.It's not a particularly memorable film, but it's nice easy watching for an evening in. I really enjoyed it. The DVD has subtitles for those who may need them and includes a goodly selection of extra features: - Director's Commentary - Making of Featurette - Deleted Scenes - Goof Reel - Production Photo Gallery - Theatrical Trailer

Superb acting from a wonderful cast. Lighthearted and romantic.

Not really Noel Coward's play – more of an adaptation to suit modern viewership retaining the period setting; otherwise it's an enjoyable and quite entertaining wee comedy; I'm a little sorry for the reviewers who didn't find it funny – I think it's a pretty decent comedy of manners – not quite in the context of the original, but still amusing.The standard UK DVD edition has a fair smattering of extras including a commentary (see the list in the product details above) and English subtitles are available if required.

I saw this film at the cinema and was much taken it with. It is a typical English comedy in the Coward style, and the excellent cast has much to recommend it. Shot on location in Nottinghamshire, it would appear that great care has been taken to ensure the film's visual presence - the tumbledown house compared to the loft Georgian pile of the wealthy neighbour and so forth. Kristin Scott Thomas excels as the mother in full Maggie Smith mode - the manner in which she holds her head during the final tango is exemplary; Colin Firth as the disillusioned father gives a rather exciting edge to his performances not seen for some years; Ben Barnes succeeds as the labrador-puppy-esque son delightfully in love; the two sisters (Kimberley Nixon and Katherine Parkinson, more famous for her role in the IT Crowd on the UK's Channel 4) are well cast and give their supportive roles some weight. Kris Marshall seems an odd choice for the Butler, but it works. Jessica Biel, as the American woman who joins the family, is well cast and well matched to those characters in the film.To the film itself, there are really quite a large number of laugh-out-loud moments (especially where the family dog meets its demise), and some slow-burning comedy moments, such as one based around hayfever, give the film a definite charm. The music is excellent, and from what I can discern, sung mostly by the cast: Jessica Biel can certainly hold a tune, Colin Firth sounds just as he did in Earnest, and 'Car Wash' and 'Sexbomb' have never sounded finer. Perfect viewing for a Sunday afternoon or autumn evening.

Couldn't get sub titles to work but quite an entertaining movie with great actors

This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long while. It is very old English which I love. Kristin Scott Thomas plays the role perfectly and with every sneer and put down she has you laughing more and actually loving her more too. Colin Firth's classic moment has to be when he reminds his daughter she is English so she can fake it - pure English humour and so true!This movie really shows the English aristocracy as most of us imagine them to be - silly, a bit pompous, stiff, anti-American (in a harmless way), snotty and into sick blood sports.The comedy is more wit and intellectual rather than in your face humour which really adds to the whole effect. Everything is just beneath the surface but the way Kristin delivers her remarks is just gold. The moment in the stage show had us rolling around in the cinema aisles. That is worth seeing in itself and the audience was roaring.As a Welshman in England this film really is everything about the English that I love and they are famous for so I really recommend this to anyone who loves a bit of good English culture, comedy and something set in "the good old days". I cannot wait for the DVD release so I can watch it again and again and again.If you love the English watch this film and if you don't watch this film because you will love them by the end.

Plenty of things to like about the plot, which has a slightly Uncle Vanya / Cherry Orchard feel to it. Well, I suppose it would, being loosely based on a Noel Coward play. Nicely filmed as well, in a country estate setting, but with the usual lack of mud and other signs of real life that we have come to expect from such productions. However the release that we wathched on Amazon Prime has no subtitles for the hard of hearing, which would not normally matter for us, except that when we streamed it, the sound quality was so poor that many of the actors appear to mumble unintelligibly. Kristin Scott-Thomas's Veronica was supposed to be grumpily and ascerbically witty, but we kept having to pause and repeat to try and work out what she was saying.