"EASY
VIRTUE" ... This modest film adapted from a minor Noel
Coward play will delight all Anglophiles in addition to pleasing others for its exquisite casting and strong performances
by Kristin Scott Thomas and Jessica Biel. A mother (Thomas) and a bride (Biel) at an English country house during the late
1920's fight over the heart and soul of John Whitaker (Ben Barnes), the young son and heir, after he returns home with his
new bride who turns out to be (Gasp!) a brassy American, a young widow, an independent woman, and a race car driver!
The
grand estate soon fills with tension. John's two younger sisters quickly side with their mother, but the feelings of John's
dad (Colin Firth), a one time bon vivant, are left open to question. Due to developing events, the young couple are forced
to stay longer than they had originally planned, just long enough for devastating secrets to spill out on both sides.
With
Jessica Biel looking positively ravishing, it might appear to be an unequal battle between the mother and her new daughter-in-law,
but don't count this dour mistress of manipulation out. Kristin Scott Thomas plays to perfection her role as an ice queen,
while Jessica Biel continues to show a real flair for period costume dramas after this and her earlier fine role in "The Illusionist."
(B+, go see it!)
