Easy Virtue

Easy Virtue takes its origins from a Noel Coward play in which characters talk very quickly and spout heaps of “witty” bon mots, which, though the film has been infused with strong performances and impeccable set design, does ensure that the whole thing ultimately comes off as a sporadically amusing yet pervasively tedious piece of work. The movie revolves around the madcap shenanigans that ensue at a palatial countryside estate after a privileged young man (Ben Barnes’ John Whittaker) brings his new American wife (Jessica Biel’s Larita) to meet his eccentric family, with John’s cold mother (Kristen Scott Thomas’ Veronica) making few attempts at welcoming Larita into the fold. Easy Virtue‘s exceedingly familiar modus operandi becomes clear virtually from the get-go, as screenwriters Stephan Elliott and Sheridan Jobbins populate the proceedings with precisely the sort of stereotypes one expects to find in a film of this ilk (eg the sarcastic drunk, the grumpy butler, etc). The inclusion of a few genuinely hilarious comedic interludes notwithstanding (eg a Can-Can performance that becomes unwittingly risque), Easy Virtue suffers from a plotless atmosphere that inevitably becomes oppressive – although, to be fair, it’s impossible to deny that the movie does improve slightly as it progresses thanks to an all-too-slight increase of substantive elements. Having said that, the shift from lighthearted romp to familial drama in the third act will leave even the film’s fans shaking their heads and there’s subsequently little doubt that the movie’s final 20 minutes drag in ways that one couldn’t possibly have anticipated.

** out of ****