Critic Reviews
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Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Echoing the words of the great Porter song, Easy Virtue deliciously misbehaves.
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Tom Long, Detroit News
These are good actors telling a good story, so the virtue is indeed easy to grasp, and a fine time should be had by all.
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Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
A winning, witty fox trot through the Roaring 20s, when men were men, women were liberating themselves and the 'to the manner born' were losing their grip on their manners -- and manors.
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Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
Jessica Biel gets more publicity for her body and her boyfriend than for her acting ability, but Easy Virtue may be cause for a reassessment.
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Dan Zak, Washington Post
What might've been a scrumptious, chocolatey dessert of a movie -- a Noel Coward delite -- is instead a scoop of lemon ice, not filling, faintly sweet and mostly water.
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Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Full of forced jocularity and drawing-room hissy fits, with its cast parading around in vintage threads and antique cars, Easy Virtue is a close-to-insufferable souffle based on the 1925 Noel Coward play.
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Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
A period piece that may play well with those who hate period pieces. [Blu-ray]
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James Plath, Movie Metropolis
Jessica Biel (7th Heaven) has a grand time playing a "wicked" American woman whom an upper-crust Brit (Ben Barnes) takes home to Meet the Parents in 1920s rural England.
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James Plath, Movie Metropolis
Easy Virtue makes subtle comedy look easy. The ensemble is brilliant, and Noel Coward's play-brought-to-film is just good enough . . . .
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Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com
This British drawing-room comedy feels awfully familiar but is redeemed by some tart performances.
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Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
A recent headline declared that [Jessica] Biel "is still trying to prove she's more than a pretty face." After Easy Virtue, she's still got something to prove.
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Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
It's only a surprise if you haven't seen his other films.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Awkwardly conceived in a superficial reality that leaves its punch lines without much punch.
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Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Biel's performance lacks the zing needed to jolt this comedy of manners.
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Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Jessica Biel turns out to be up to the task of handling Coward's deliciously acidic lines and is well-matched with an impressive all-British cast in the sparkling "Easy Virtue."
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Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
If Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas firing snarky bon mots at people for 90 minutes doesn't sound entertaining, I don't know what to tell you.
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Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...almost undone by the casting of thoroughly modern Jessica Biel.
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Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
Easy to like but hard to wholly recommend.
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Keith Cohen, Entertainment Spectrum
Biel holds her own with the seamless acting chops of Firth and Thomas. The movie benefits from a snappy musical score with familiar standout show tunes from Cole Porter.
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Marc Mohan, Oregonian
Said husband, as well as the family's other members, are as bland and forgettable as the 1920s British cuisine on display.
Read all 22 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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The combination of a new American wife being brought home by her British hubby to meet his family lends itself to a lot of funny situations. I thought Jessica Biel played her part well and Colin Firth is fantastic as normal.
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A very enjoyable story about trying to move through life with all of the baggage that we inherit from our family and accumulate on our own.
Witty, clever and at times touching.
Made all the more powerful by the writing of Noel Coward and this amazing group of actors. Though the… More
A very enjoyable story about trying to move through life with all of the baggage that we inherit from our family and accumulate on our own.
Witty, clever and at times touching.
Made all the more powerful by the writing of Noel Coward and this amazing group of actors. Though the weakest link is Biel...she does a pretty good job at holding her own against this pretty amazing cast.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth are favorites of mine and are great here.
And it was my first time seeing Katherine Parkinson outside of her performance on the BBC series The IT Crowd and she was great as well.
Even the soundtrack was very clever with a 1920-30 style badn performing hits from the period intermixed with random hits from other (later) eras, done in 1920's style.
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...I think my dislike for this movie was clearly on the basis of miscasting...Jessica Beil does not ring as the perfect 20s flapper that this role called for. She just doesnt have the chops or the experience. It just didnt fit her at ALL. Collin Ferral and the rest of the cast were… More
...I think my dislike for this movie was clearly on the basis of miscasting...Jessica Beil does not ring as the perfect 20s flapper that this role called for. She just doesnt have the chops or the experience. It just didnt fit her at ALL. Collin Ferral and the rest of the cast were perfect but I just did NOT LIKE Beil in this role...They should have gotten someone different.
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I really got a kick out of this movie. I loved the quirky stuff, especially. Just when you thought things were getting serious, they would throw in another little funny incident. Having Colin Firth in this movie was definitely a plus for me. He is just fantastic. Also, keep an eye on… More
I really got a kick out of this movie. I loved the quirky stuff, especially. Just when you thought things were getting serious, they would throw in another little funny incident. Having Colin Firth in this movie was definitely a plus for me. He is just fantastic. Also, keep an eye on that butler....he is always doing something silly.
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Enjoyable with nice photography. It's a a good old fashion drawing room dramedy... if you're into that sort of thing.
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the fact that this film gets any stars at all is entirely for colin firth, whose character was written perfectly and whose acting was excellent as always. the rest of the film was nearly insufferable. the wonderful cast pulled off an ensemble of terrible performances, the plot was… More
the fact that this film gets any stars at all is entirely for colin firth, whose character was written perfectly and whose acting was excellent as always. the rest of the film was nearly insufferable. the wonderful cast pulled off an ensemble of terrible performances, the plot was inconsequential, and the script was very poorly written. biel looked the part but didnt play it well and the humor fell almost entirely flat. really a poor film.
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In a family that prides itself as proper, vice becomes a virtue.
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Pretty good movie with a slight piece of humor and drama. This film reminded me alot of woody allen movies i don't know why....
A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing… More
Pretty good movie with a slight piece of humor and drama. This film reminded me alot of woody allen movies i don't know why....
A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.
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Most parents would be ecstatic to hear that their son has gotten married but that is not the case in "Easy Virtue" with the Whittakers(Kristin Scott Thomas & Colin Firth), especially when she finds out that not only did their darling son John(Ben Barnes) marry a… More
Most parents would be ecstatic to hear that their son has gotten married but that is not the case in "Easy Virtue" with the Whittakers(Kristin Scott Thomas & Colin Firth), especially when she finds out that not only did their darling son John(Ben Barnes) marry a floozy, but a trouser-wearing, American floozy, Larita(Jessica Biel), who has an interesting taste in literature and would have won the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, if she had not been disqualified for lacking certain equipment. To be perfectly fair, Larita is stunned at the first sight of the Whittakers' mansion, even as half of it is not heated and some of the servants are being let go. Her plan is to move with John to London which is a decision that her allergies are making all the easier for her.
"Easy Virtue" is a breezy farce with visual flair and a dark undercurrent with a wonderful ending in the 'oh why not' tradition. Not only that but the movie also serves as an allegory with Larita representing American progress from Detroit who favors horseless carriages over horses but it is not that easy to change a household with a mother who does not want her children to grow up or truly live their lives and a father who is emotionally absent, still nursing the psychic wounds of World War I. The excellent performances help immensely to prevent these characters from becoming mere caricatures.
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A fizzy fish-out-of-water Noel Coward adaptation that is stylish and fun and has a major problem. It's about a sexy American woman who marries into an eccentric and hilarious English family in the '30s and the hilarity that ensues as she tries to fit in. The Brits are… More
A fizzy fish-out-of-water Noel Coward adaptation that is stylish and fun and has a major problem. It's about a sexy American woman who marries into an eccentric and hilarious English family in the '30s and the hilarity that ensues as she tries to fit in. The Brits are headed by Kristin Scott-Thomas and Colin Firth, for goodness' sake. The American is Jessica Biel. Now, look, she's beautiful. She looks great in the clothes. And she occasionally has a great moment. But she has to say many, many words, and this is not her strong suit. And the movie relies on her to be good at saying words. So the movie, unfortunately, gets taken down a couple notches for it. Not terrible, but problematical.
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Jessica Biel appears in the middle of an English period piece and this what happens..nothing much of anything. Biel unfortunately does not have the depth or range as a actor to match wits with Firth, Thomas etc. which makes them and us utterly bored.
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The performances of Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jessica Biel, and Ben Barnes makes the film worth seeing. The film reminded me of another film Relative Values which also had Colin Firth and Julie Andrews in it. It is well written and well cast. The only problems I saw with the… More
The performances of Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jessica Biel, and Ben Barnes makes the film worth seeing. The film reminded me of another film Relative Values which also had Colin Firth and Julie Andrews in it. It is well written and well cast. The only problems I saw with the film was that it was predictable who would end up with whom by the end of the film. Also the style of the film was too much. The style was a combo from a stage page to English Comedy to 1940 romance film to slapstick comedy. Some of the comedic moments were a little too over the top. However, it is the performances that make the film watchable.
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[b][size=5][color=darkred]EASY VIRTUE (2009)[/color][/size]
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/custom/07/1202807.jpg[/img]
[i][color=red]Film je snimljen kao adaptacija predstave Noel Coward-a sa istim imenom. To je priča o načinu života Starog sveta Engleske i… More
[b][size=5][color=darkred]EASY VIRTUE (2009)[/color][/size]
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/custom/07/1202807.jpg[/img]
[i][color=red]Film je snimljen kao adaptacija predstave Noel Coward-a sa istim imenom. To je priča o načinu života Starog sveta Engleske i slobode Novog sveta Amerike. Sve se dešava 1929 godine kada John Whitaker (Ben Barnes) nabrzinu ženi amerikanku, koja je inače profesionalna "automobilska trkačica", Laritu (Jessica Biel). John je najstariji sin u porodici Whitaker --jedne od uglednijih engleskih porodica--i kada se vrati kući u zagrljaju svoje voljene supruge, njegova majka (Kristin Scott Thomas) nije baš oduševljena jer sve to kvari njene planove o budućnosti porodice. U stvari svi članovi porodice se čude ovoj amerikanki koja je "preglasna" za engleski ukus, među njima i John-ove sestre Hilda (Kimberly Nixon) i Marion (Katherine Parkinson). Jedini koji je oduševljen novim članom porodice je glava porodice Whitaker (Colin Firth).
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1202807/photo_34_hires.jpg[/img]
I pokraj svih pokušaja Larita ne uspeva da postane punopravni član porodice ili da ikako impresira hladnu g-đu Whitaker koja ne oprašta nikome ništa. Ova nesretna porodica lako nosi maske pa je tako ostala dugo jedna od viđenijih imena u Engleskoj. Ali tu ima previše zapleta da bih opisivao ceo film... u stvari pogledajte ovo savršeno delo engleske kinematografije (koja sve više uspeva da me oduševi svežinom koju unose u svetsku kinematografiju čak i filmovima koji su "rimejk" starijih dela).
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1202807/photo_25_hires.jpg[/img]
Pravo uzivanje za oko, duši i uvo! Muzika je nešto što retko izdvajam kod bilo kog igranog filma , ali to moram ovom prilikom učiniti. Režiser Stephan Elliot (THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT), čiji sam intervju imao prilike pogledati pre nedeju dana i koji je bio odsutan tolikih godina sa filmske scene, je uspeo da stare pesme Cole Portera ukomponuje u sadržinu filma da bi svaka scena bila osiromašena kada se ne bi tamo nalazile! Ne znam šta reći o glumi osim da su Biel i Scott Thomas pružili maksimum režiseru i publici koji se da primetiti od prve scene, ali se glavni glumac ipak malo više istakao od prelepe i talentovane Biel! A kada budete gledali film, setite se mene kada scena sa nastupom gde se igra kan-kan bude na platnu... i smejte se samnom!
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1202807/photo_19_hires.jpg[/img]
Film koji će mi ostati zauvek u sećanju kao lepo iskustvo! Drago mi je da konačno mogu dodeliti 8/10.[/color] [/i]
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1202807/photo_09_hires.jpg[/img][/b]
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The story is set in the 1920s and is an interesting tongue in cheek look at the Upper Class British family life in the early 1900's whereby the Whittakers live on an estate with a stately house, apparently very wealthy but in fact on the verge of bankruptcy. Kristin Scott Thomas… More
The story is set in the 1920s and is an interesting tongue in cheek look at the Upper Class British family life in the early 1900's whereby the Whittakers live on an estate with a stately house, apparently very wealthy but in fact on the verge of bankruptcy. Kristin Scott Thomas is amazing as the rigid and disapproving matriarch who doesn't approve of new wife (Jessica Biel - the beautiful "trashy" American woman), who wants to live in London with her new husband(Ben Barnes), but the mother wants him "home" because they need him there. She is a welcome breath of sultry air to his father though, played perfectly by Colin Firth who is the only one in the family that seems to like Biel. I thought the tango scene between Biel and Firth was magnificent and sexy and the panty-less can-can scene at the war widows venue was jaw-dropping for back in the day lol. Kris Marshall's Furber, was witty as well and steals the show as a funny butler.
The title comes from a line late in the movie, when someone refers to Biel's "Easy virtue", which was not a compliment
This is a romp of a film; I wasn't bored even for one second to see the flashy American trying to fit in with the old school British, the one-liners come fast and frequent. It's 90 minutes of entertaining and intelligent fun.
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It was okay. Integrating some pop songs amongst the 20's soundtrack was a nice touch.
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I thought it was a cute movie. There was some good laughs in there. Overall I liked the story presented. I don't think I necessarily needed the characters bursting out into song as much as they did though. I also didn't really like the ending. And some parts seemed a little… More
I thought it was a cute movie. There was some good laughs in there. Overall I liked the story presented. I don't think I necessarily needed the characters bursting out into song as much as they did though. I also didn't really like the ending. And some parts seemed a little over the top, but for the most part the film did put a smile on my face. I thought it was well acted, I quite liked Jessica Biel and Ben Barnes together. I also liked the way the film was directed. I also thought the costumes were well done, made you really feel like you were a part of that time period. So overall I liked it. I don't think I loved it, but definitely liked it.
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I think I would have really liked this film if it weren't for Jessica Biel (and honestly I can't tell you if it's her or her character) who was just endlessly irratating and self obessessed. On the other hand Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas were brilliant as… More
I think I would have really liked this film if it weren't for Jessica Biel (and honestly I can't tell you if it's her or her character) who was just endlessly irratating and self obessessed. On the other hand Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas were brilliant as always. Other than Biel a good movie about an upper class English family that is beginning to loose it's shine.
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I enjoyed this movie, and I thought the ending was nicely done!
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id give it 3/5 and that might be marking it a little bit high. there was nothing particularly great about the movie. it was a pretty slow going story and sort of aggrivating. Jessica Biel was great in it. I expected just a little bit more out of Colin Firth. Its worth maybe one watch… More
id give it 3/5 and that might be marking it a little bit high. there was nothing particularly great about the movie. it was a pretty slow going story and sort of aggrivating. Jessica Biel was great in it. I expected just a little bit more out of Colin Firth. Its worth maybe one watch if theres nothing else you would like to see. Definitely not going to watch it multiple times however.
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Tries too hard to be a mixture of Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde and an Ealing farce. Still, it's always nice to see upper class Britishness turned inside out, a rebellious Colin Firth and an unpredictable ending.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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