I was eagerly anticipating Easy Virtue since it premiered at the Tribeca Film festival in April. The lines to see the film wrapped around the theater. How could one go wrong? Colin Firth Kristin Scott-Thomas, and Noel Coward? It is sure to be a hit.

In fact, all the tickets were sold out and I missed it. I subsequently missed the opportunity to see the film in its limited theatrical release.
On a transcontinental flight over the weekend I had the pleasure to see this film. Initially I was very excited when I heard the flight attendant say that this film was part of our in-flight entertainment.
About 15 minutes into the film, I was bored as nuts. The result: I started writing this “review” at that point. It is obvious looking at Scott-Thomas and Firth were phoning their performances in, which can be entertaining. Then there is the issue of Jessica Biel – why oh why? She is completely miscast in her role, which although she is playing an American, her voice is putting o airs of upper class English sophistication.
I think that I am going to go to Netflix and add the original to my DVD queue and catch the original (and probably better) filmed version.
Additional problems I had with the film:

• The funny bits seemed a bit misjudged/poorly timed. I think something was missing
• Maybe I have seen too many films set in pastoral England; but it feels like it is at the point where it is cliché. The theme of the stuffy exterior concealing much, much more underneath the surface is a bit overdone. From what I recall Coward’s word tends to be a little stilted especially by today’s standards but still …
• Another ill-judged element of the film? the music. First it seemed to go over some dialogue and then in the end I realized another thing that irritated me about the music … the songs were contemporary songs but sung in a style of the era in which the film takes place.

This overall sums up my disappointment. Maybe a repeat viewing will alter my impression of the movie but I doubt it. I will give it another look when it comes out on DVD.