Easy Virtue

Ben Barnes, Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas

Directed by Stephen Elliott

Rating: B

When a newly married couple go to stay at the husband's family country estate in England, the impending feud between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law is obvious from the start.

As Mrs. Whittaker (Thomas) learns that her son, John (Barnes), has abruptly married an American during his travels, she immediately finds reason to dislike her. John was promised to a neighbor's daughter that would connect the two families into one large estate. John is young and foolishly in love, but he is blind to his wife's discontent living in the country. Larita (Biel) is a city girl with a need for a faster paced life racing cars. Larita's only other ally is the estranged father of John, Mr. Whittaker (Firth).

Mrs. Whittaker and Larita go head-to-head, trying to show each other who is the alpha in this country home. John's two younger sister's don't help Larita's cause when she accidentally causes embarrassment and harm to the two. John's youngest sister contacts a relative in New York and digs up Larita's dirty past for all to hear.

"Easy Virtue" is a surprisingly enjoyable film. The mother-in-law hates daughter-in-law was predictable but the characters helped move the story along at an easy-going pace. While Mrs. Whittaker had wished for her son to marry the neighbor's daughter, she doesn't force them uncomfortably together as other predictable movies do. John and the neighbor's daughter get along fine enough but there is no blossoming romance to steal the spotlight. Being the new person in the house brings attention to Larita. She wishes that everyone will accept her since she grew up in a different lifestyle. Her fair treatment of the household staff holds her in favor over the residents themselves, who have their rules they stick to.

As a period piece, "Easy Virtue" should not scare away viewers. It's not a depressing drama nor will it bore you with subtle history lessons. There's humor and not an overly-sickening romance like "Pride & Prejudice" to scare the male viewers away. It's also one of the better roles Jessica Biel has portrayed. So if you're looking for a movie that won't puzzle your mind with a confusing story line and are looking for something different to watch, "Easy Virtue" may be the movie you should try.

Dorian Gray

Ben Barnes, Colin Firth

Directed by Oliver Parker

Rating: 1 star

Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) is an innocent and pure young man. He is easily misguided by Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth) and corrupted by Henry's antics. Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin) wanted to capture Dorian's innocence by painting a portrait. Dorian wishes to trade his soul for his youth and unbeknownst to Dorian, his portrait takes on the sins he later commits. While Dorian remains young for years to come, his portrait grows old and ugly. Upon noticing this, Dorian hides his portrait and continues to live a corrupted life.

An erotic and horribly twisted version of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, this movie should never have been made. DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. I was deeply disgusted with this version and personally cannot believe someone could make a movie so bad. It was a very sensual and disturbing take on Wilde's novel. Honestly, it was a waste of time. Colin Firth made an embarrassingly bad career move when he took on the role of Lord Henry Wotton. Sure, he played it all right but it was such a horrible movie! And Ben Barnes, while he may be an ideal actor for Dorian Gray, unfortunately not even he could save this movie. The cast was fine, the content however is a different story.

(Warning: next paragraph may be disturbing as I describe some gruesome scenes from the movie.)

The movie had similarities to the book. It's been a while since I read the novel so I can't remember if they strayed too far but they got the main points. However, what wasn't heavily influenced in the book that was put in the movie was Dorian's sex life. What a scandalous young man! In the movie, he has sex with a young girl (teenager, he wasn't a pedophile) and when the mother comes looking for her in the bedroom, the young girl hides under the bed while he has sex with the mother! The ONLY thing I actually laughed at in the movie was the death of Sibyl Vane's brother because it was unexpected. I preferred his death in the book but in the movie it was humorous to see him die by falling in an underground railroad and run over by a train.

I would only recommend viewing this movie if you want to be disturbed.