A Good Woman (2004)

I don't often review films on IMDb but felt compelled to do so after seeing this one. This film rendition by Oscar Wilde is quite simply one of the best of stage-to-screen I have ever seen. I have never been a huge fan of Helen Hunt, but she is so on the money with this part that I loved seeing every minute of her on the screen. The witty writing and lavish costuming sets this movie apart from many others I have seen in the past. Engrossing without being lurid or obscene, it really draws you in with the story and characters. Tom Wilkinson, as always, is dead-on in the portrayal of Helen's very wealthy suitor with a giant heart. This is a movie with a twist that will bring tears to your eyes and a warmth to your heart- and sweetness that is so rarely seen in our current times of cinema. Even the oh-so-clever dialog rings true in this adaptation. A definite must see for those who love their romance served up with the class and refinement of another era.

Fmovies: I thought this was one of the best adaptations of a play to cinema. The way you are lured to believe throughout the first half of the picture the great deception on which Wilde first built his plot,which is the role of a woman of ill-repute portrayed by Helen Hunt, and her connection with Mr. Windermere, I find it to be a stroke of genius of both the original writer as well as the script's writer and the director. I suppose this is a great tribute Barker is making to Wilde himself, and to the theater that gave Wilde his fame and reputation. It all seems to me like a theatrical movie with great photography and music, but a play never the less. The actor's lines are of the highest quality a viewer can ever hope to listen, and the humor is so fluent you can glide trough the whole picture on a single laugh, apart from the more philosophical contents near the end, where you are struck by the conversion of that «evil» woman into a really good one. Truly great!!

great movie..one of the best i have seen lately.

Excellent language used. every sentence has double innuendo. one wonders what is the absolute meaning of it all. simply awesome! Oscar Wilde..i guess that says it all.

i would love to see another. excellent work by Helen Hunt.And of course by all the characters in the movie. The society at large will always remain that way, no matter how many good/bad women come and go! The society has always had a culture, this culture is very well put by the movie. the movie progresses slowly but with the flow of language, one is easily put in place. this wont change...this is a part of every society and culture, no matter where we go.

Truly a good movie, by the end of it all. Worth a watch!

A Good Woman fmovies. Some people reading this review will almost certainly brand me uncultured and insensitive. For the record, I know by heart every Oscar Wilde work, all his quotations, and where they came from.

Oscar Wilde was a genius, and these hacks who tore apart "Lady Windermere's Fan", changed the title to "A Good Woman", and passed it off as their own did nothing but to tarnish Wilde's reputation.

Those who read or saw the original play would have a good idea what is going on in the film. So I am not going to say much about the plot, since there is little deviation between the two versions. What's different, are the time (from the late 1800s to the 1930s), the setting (in Italy instead of in England), and the nationalities (the Windermeres are now Americans). Maybe, the filmmakers need an excuse to hire Italian hand (since it is also a British-Italian co-production) and so, the easiest way is to set it on Italian land. This is where the problem starts.

The whole dialog was rewritten so that they would sound more "working class", and more natural to our supposed untrained ears. The new lines are nothing but artificial and trite. It sounds like everyone has a sock in their mouth. For a good measure, the writers threw in as many recognizable Oscar Wilde quotes as they possibly can. Sorry, no dice. I know where they came from, and I don't find their use particularly deep or witty, and I definitely don't feel cultured listening to them, no matter how heavy a British or Italian accent there was.

Helen Hunt comes across as blend and had that "whatever" attitude. She made a whore of out Mrs. Erlynne, not a seductress that she was meant to be. Scarlett Johansson appeared too immature for the role and didn't have the kind of strength that a Wildian heroine would usually demand. The male leads, Mark Umbers (as Windermere) and Stephen Campbell Moore (as Darlington) had little opportunity to shine. This is disappointing, especially for the latter. In short it's awful. Even the actors knew it, so they just took the, "what the hell, it pays the bills" approach.

The marginally redeeming factor was Tom Wilkinson. He did his part exactly what was entailed. It would have worked in the original play, because he was the only one who saw right through the seductress (a factor that eventually won Mrs. Erlynne's affection). Here, he is just another man who sympathized with her (mostly due to the fact that Mrs. Erlynne's role was demoted to a hair short of a whore).

Overall, the flow of events and lines were just thrown right at the audience with little sense, or expectations, or both.

Finally, if you don't like this movie someone tells you you're an uncultured brute, you can tell them this. The tag line, "Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future" came from "The picture of Dorian Gray."

One of the first truly entertaining films I have seen in a long time. I feel this is what true film making and entertainment should aspire to achieve. The performances were amazing and well directed. This film made me feel something in a heart I thought had become void of emotion. There are some unforgettable quotes throughout that I will never forget. The writing was brilliant. I didn't see it in the theater I bought the DVD not knowing what to expect. I sat and viewed it three times. I actually didn't want it to end. I became so attached to the characters. I want to know more of them. There were so many questions left unanswered. This is true in real life as well. I guess this was what caused me to get lost behind the closed doors in the Villas of Italy.

I must say I was very impressed with this little flick. I had minimal expectations upon entering our little preview screening.

Shot in a very safe & traditional manor, it features sets which pay incredible attention to detail. The characters, although slightly over-emphasized at times (which fitted the cinematic style), were believable and enough conflict was generated to keep you wandering how people were going to respond to the presented situations. And keep you just a little bit squeamish from time to time.

Quite amazing at certain parts... which worked fabulously in our setting, as our ages spanned from 18 to 90 years old, and everyone had a giggle from time to time.

If your a DOP or photography enthusiast, it also contains one of the most impressive focus pulls I've seen in a while, which certainly bought a smile to my face. :-) Also, the costumes are exquisite.

Well worth watching on a Sunday afternoon over a bottle of red.