Firth, Everett and Dench Bring the Laughs in The Importance of Being Earnest (or Ernest)

What’s in a name? I’ve always found names and their meanings fascinating, and I love the connection mine has with both Ireland and peace. But would I still be me if I were Jane or Mary? And would other people see me the same way?

In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a name is very significant indeed. Two young ladies share the same curious fixation: they have always dreamed of marrying a man named Ernest. There’s just a certain something in the name that inspires confidence. (I stifled a giggle and forced myself to remember, as I watched the 2002 film adaptation written and directed by Oliver Parker, that this story predates Ernest P. Worrell by nearly a century.) Both of them do fall in love with Ernests, but there’s just one hitch: neither of them is actually named Ernest.

Colin Firth plays Jack, a generally decent fellow who divides his time between the country and London. But he has a secret. He takes his leave of the country by claiming to visit his brother Ernest in town, but his brother doesn’t actually exist. Instead, he takes on the name Ernest while in London. Meanwhile, his friend Algy, played by Rupert Everett, often gets out of social obligations by claiming a need to visit his nonexistent invalid friend, Bunbury, in the country.

Algy’s cousin Gwendolyn (Frances O’Connor) loves Jack, but her imperious mother, played by Judi Dench, insists upon approving him first, and she finds his shadowy family history most unsatisfactory. Dench, in the movie’s standout performance, savors each of her lines, milking them for maximum intimidation and wit. She’s a force to contend with, and matters soon become more complicated when the rather unscrupulous Algy turns up at Jack’s country estate pretending to be Ernest, leading him to instantly win the affections of impulsive daydreamer Cicely (Reese Witherspoon), Jack’s ward.

This fast-paced farce reminded me of one of my favorite M*A*S*H episodes, in which Hawkeye invents a captain by the name of Tuttle and finds it increasingly difficult to maintain the ruse of his existence. Here, we have two phony people and two real people using phony names. Naturally, keeping all that straight is just about impossible, and Firth and Everett are hilarious as the friends try to wade their way out of the mess they have made. While the film is more comical than romantic, the couples are believable, and I found the subplot about the affection between Cicely’s tutor, Miss Prism (Anna Massey), and the local rector, Dr. Chasuble (Tom Wilkinson), quite touching.

Absurd circumstances, sharp wordplay and piercing social commentary all combine to make this a very funny adaptation of a literary classic. The actors seem to relish their roles, and the direction helps the movie have contemporary appeal despite the 19th-century setting. All in all, not a bad way to get Wilde.

Stick with Nick

I'm not even sure if Nickelodeon still runs the animated series Inspector Gadget, but if it does, watch that instead. I grew up on that show, with its clueless hero, his brainiac dog and niece, and his poor chief who always managed to get himself blown up. It was cute, it was funny, it was a good cartoon. But Disney seems to have a recent trend in turning good cartoons into bad movies. Inspector Gadget is the latest example of this phenomenon.

Matthew Broderick stars as John Brown, a police officer wannabe who, after an unsuccessful attempt to catch murderer Dr. Claw (Rupert Everett), has his body destroyed by a car explosion and is provided a new one by the pretty scientist Brenda Bradford (Joley Fischer) whose father was the victim of the murder. The body comes equipped with a myriad of gadgets, and these are what will be used to catch Dr. Claw and bring him to justice.

As usual, Penny has a lot more to do with catching the bad guy than the Inspector does; he bumbles his way through most of the movie, causing physical harm to many and laying waste to a good deal of the town. Brain has little to do with this movie as a cute beagle who spends most of his time tucked under Penny's arm. Taking Brain's place in importance is the Gadgetmobile, a wisecracking car who is most responsible for the apprehension of the bad guys.

A cast of supporting dodos rounds out this movie, from SNL veteran Cheri Oteri as the thoroughly annoying mayor to Andy Dick as Claw's wimpy mad scientist assistant. Instead of the menacing, never-seen presence that Dr. Claw presents in the cartoon, the movie version is goony at best. And his imitation Inspector Gadget, who looks little like Broderick except for the clothes, goes beyond obnoxious as a menace to society. Cartoony action and bad slapstick are the order of the day, but it was done so poorly that I only found myself chuckling a couple times.

This movie had very few redeeming qualities that I could see. Yes, the gadgets were kind of cool, but I'd much rather see them in cartoon form on the clueless inspector I grew to love, excellently voiced by Don Adams. My advice to you: skip this movie and find some old episodes of the animated series instead. It's much funnier and not nearly as disgusting.