Directed by Stephan Elliott
Based on Noël Coward’s play Easy Virtue (1924)
I changed my mind, what I really want for Mother’s Day is the CD from the movie Easy Virtue.
I loved the movie and as I researched the web today to write this review, I came across the soundtrack on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Virtue-Marius-Vries/dp/B001J36JN4/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1273190570&sr=8-7#productPromotions).
One of the wonders of this new age is that you can preview the songs right there on the Amazon site by clicking on their title. And so I did, and as I listened to Jessica Biel sing Mad About the Boy, I fell in love again, with the music, the movie and the boy.
As Easy Virtue starts, John Whittaker (Ben Barnes), a charming and naive upper class British boy, impeccably dressed in a 1920s outfit, leans against a light pole smoking a cigarette as he watches the end of a car race. The winner, Larita (Jessica Biel), a beautiful American widow, waves at the crowd intoxicated in her triumph and as she does, her eyes met John’s. And John stares at her, blows smoke and smiles. And his smile burns the screen.
It comes to no surprise to the viewer that two weeks later they are married. To John’s family, on the other hand, the news fells more like a bomb.
Once the newlyweds arrive to the family manor the conflict starts. John’s mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) takes an instant dislike to her daughter in law and soon the two women are engaged in a war of wits. John’s father (Colin Firth), a World War I veteran still traumatized by the war events, watches on, intrigued by this young woman with a past she sees as a kindred spirit.
John and Larita’s attraction for each other is strong but will their love survive their honeymoon?
If you’re not convinced by now about renting the DVD this week-end, please watch the trailer of Colin Firth and Jessica Biel dancing a tango (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLq32YM0gE) or the one with Jessica Biel singing Mad About the Boy (http://matttrailer.com/easy_virtue_2008_t-clip-who_do_you_think_you_are, then choose Mad About the Boy in the box below) and tell me if you don’t find them, as I did, irresistible.
I want one! I want one! For Mother’s Day, I want a Colin Firth! That tango video was STEAMY!
Well now I definitely have to get this one. I know Colin Firth has a special place in your life, but I may borrow him for an on-screen hour or two. Good music, a handsome man and a love story? What’s not to like?