The Importance Of
Being Earnest

Out UK/Ireland: 6th September  2002

Certificate: U

Stars: Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Rupert Everett, Frances O'Connor, Dame Judi Dench

Director: Oliver Parker

What's in a name? Plenty. Reserved bachelor Jack Worthing (Colin Firth) enjoys a simple, responsible life with Cecily Cardew (Reese Witherspoon), his utterly romantic but romantically sheltered niece. Their life in the country is quiet and serene, save for the moments when Jack is whisked away to London to fix the problems caused by Earnest Worthing, his wayward and carefree brother.

Trouble is, Jack is Earnest. As an escape from the mundane, Jack assumes the identity of this roguish, imaginary alter-ego. Goodbye simple and responsible, hello wayward and carefree. Once he's in London, Jack teams up with his ne'er-do-well partner-in-crime, Algy Moncreef (Rupert Everett), a man whose penchant for overspending is matched only by his knack for dodging bill-collectors.

Jack is also in love. Well, Earnest is, at least. The lucky object of his affection is Gwendolen Fairfax (Frances O'Connor), a rebellious aristocrat with a flair for the dramatic. Jack - as Earnest - proposes to the smitten Gwendolen. Convinced that she is destined to marry a man named Ernest, she graciously accepts his offer. But there's a hitch: Gwendolen's mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell (Dame Judi Dench) requires more than just a name from her daughter's suitors. When she interrogates Jack about his social credentials, she learns of his inauspicious beginnings and refuses her consent. Thus, in order to wed Gwendolen, Jack must rid himself of Earnest and find some evidence of a worthy ancestry.