Review

Review Date: 5-February-06
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

A Good Woman (2006)

Period pictures allow filmmakers and audiences to revel in the glamorous trappings of the past — phaetons or model-Ts, vintage jewelry, rustling silks — but their advantages don't always offset their risks. Often their situations make little sense to the modern mind or attempt an impact enfeebled by the passage of time. "A Good Woman" is a good example of this. Based on Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, the movie offers some collateral delights but falls flat emotionally because its predicaments no longer ring true.

Without knowing it, I have been a fan (ha ha) of Wilde's work for some years now, specifically of the line, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." (I got it secondhand from the Pet Shop Boys.) So I count this among the modest assets of "A Good Woman," that it conveys some of the author's wit. However, the best lines are reserved for the secondary characters, a motley (but wealthy) crew of Europeans who amuse themselves while summering in Amalfi by philosophizing on love and gossiping about their neighbors. The less-interesting stars of the show give them much to talk about. First and foremost is Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt), a notorious American home-wrecker of a certain age who still knows how to work what she's got. Then there are the other Americans, Robert and Meg Windermere (Mark Umbers and Scarlett Johansson), who radiate the felicity of beauty, health, and young love. But with such a pretty wife at home, why does Robert visit Mrs. Erlynne so much? And do his visits explain the sudden upswing in her fortunes?

The adapted script by Howard Himelstein is as much a tease as Mrs. Erlynne is said to be, parading the notion of sexual misconduct (which never goes out of style) and then abruptly backing away. The real drama, it seems, involves matters of honor and affection, expressed in terms of secrets and social mandates which have ceased to hold sway. In direct opposition to modern tenets of psychology, the story contains a strong plea for keeping one's skeletons in the closet in the interest of personal composure and marital bliss. It also uses a roué to represent the terrifying prospect of impropriety, and yet, as portrayed by Stephen Campbell Moore, the faithless Lord Darlington seems like a jolly good companion and a perfectly understandable temptation (much more appealing than the Ken Doll Robert Windermere). Even the conclusion that a good woman is one who acts out of love doesn't pack the punch it was probably meant to, since the underlying assumption that a sexually uninhibited female must be corrupt has gone the way of the dodo bird.

Still, "A Good Woman" does have lavish costumes and lovely Italian scenery, as well as Tom Wilkinson to round out its supporting cast. Welcome in any time or place, Wilkinson charms as the aging romantic who ignores the aspersions on Mrs. Erlynne's reputation and offers her a chance at happiness. One can derive some enjoyment from watching the characters reach for such a reward, although their chances now seem lightly earned instead of hard won.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.