........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, Colombia and ORLANDO, FL EASY VIRTUE is a clear example of the fact that making an outstanding film just isn't all that EASY! When was the last time a Noel Coward play was made into a movie, anyway? I could've looked it up, but I'll leave it to you, if you really think it's all that important! I'll wager the Producers, Director & Screenwriter didn't see most of the screen adaptations of his plays done in the 30's/40's on TV when they were kids, as I did. Seemed they were a bit out of their element...at times.The end result: It's EASY to see the film was being pulled in several different directions, which was most apparent early on. In fact, EASY can be divided into 3 segments of roughly 30 minutes each.Segment one really didn't seem to know where it was going. It suffered from poor pacing and a pervasive tension on the set that permeated several of the scenes. What had me close to quitting on EASY were the very awkwardly inserted bits of slapstick, obviously an attempt at comic relief, but which seemed utterly contrived and out of sync with most every other aspect of the film.Segment two was a definite improvement. Toned down considerably were the scenes involving slapstick. Only a few brief moments, which were much better integrated into the work. The culture-clash, the true razon d'être of EASY, between Jessica Biel's(Cellular) character, Larita, an independent and free- spirited American race-car driver of sorts, and the lady of the manor, Mrs. Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas/The English Patient), who turns out to be one lady with an extremely controlling and manipulative manner, is handled much more smoothly in the second segment, and, as a consequence, these scenes are much more amusing, even occasionally funny! The closing segment really had me in its grip. The ensemble cast really shone. Finally, we see evidence of why so many of Noel Coward's plays were made into movies. All the outstanding elements; costumes, sets and music among others, really contributed to a very fulfilling final ½ hour! Colin Firth deserves a mention, perhaps EASY's best performance. Had the entire film been at segment three's level, 8*--EASY! However, I feel 6* is a fair overall rating.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

It's 1929. Larita (Jessica Biel) is a celebrated American race car driver. Major Jim Whittaker (Colin Firth) is the head of a large British estate haunted by the war. His wife Veronica (Kristin Scott Thomas) manages the estate's slow decline. To her dismay, her favorite John (Ben Barnes) returns married to the brash American divorcée Larita. Larita plans to live their own lives but Veronica has plans for her son to continue the estate. They are joined by John's former girlfriend neighbor Sarah Hurst and her brother Philip. Sister Hilda has a crush on Philip. The stay becomes a battle with a dead dog and some public flashing.Based on Noël Coward's work, this tries to have a breezy comedic feel. There is some fun to be had but it's not much more than that. Biel fits the modern liberated American woman. Kristin Scott Thomas is a great foil. Firth is safe. However, the movie doesn't excite. The sharpness is fleeting. Like the estate, the movie seems to fade away.

No film involving Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas and Noel Coward can be all bad. Easy Virtue comes a good deal closer than it should. Coward's sparkling wit barely manages to overcome the laborious adaptation of Stephan Elliott and Sheridian Jobbins, with Elliott's cumbersome direction not helping any. Firth and Thomas are marvelous and a decent chunk of the cast follows their example as well as they can. Jessica Biel, however, is not just terribly miscast but displays the limits of her ability with an often mannered and occasionally brittle performance. The first hour of the movie is more or less enjoyably carried along by an emphasis on Coward's humor. The last half hour turns dour and lifeless. Throw in a soundtrack that is constantly annoying in its doubly anachronistic fashion and you've got a motion picture that can't manage to do more than break even.John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) is a young Englishman abroad who meets an unconventional America race car driver named Larita (Jessica Biel), marries her and the two of them return to John's family estate. His controlling, resolute mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) only wants to be rid of Larita. John's WWI veteran father (Colin Firth) is roused from his "Lost Generation" ennui by the arrival of his new daughter-in-law. John's two sisters (Kimberly Nixon and Katherine Parkinson) vacillate between being intrigued and appalled by the new arrival. John's hasty union with Larita has spoiled long-anticipated dreams of his marrying the "girl from the country estate next door" (Charlotte Riley) and Larita's desire for a city life and gainful employment are contrary to John's gentry upbringing and his mother's plans for John to take over control of the family fortune, which has fallen on hard times. A secret from Larita's past may give John's mother everything she wants, but is that what John wants?I'm not the one to compare this production with Coward's original play or the 1928 silent movie version. All I can do is evaluate 2008's Easy Virtue on its own merits. As previously mentioned, it has some but they are nearly equaled by its flaws. I don't think these filmmakers every realized that in their approach, the most sympathetic figure in the story is John's mother. She's a woman under tremendous stress from trying to hold her family together single handed, only to find the future of her home and her son imperiled by a strange interloper. As the two women struggle over the feckless John, it's hard not to root for the mother no matter what the film throws at you. And while Ben Barnes and the other performers look almost as at ease inhabiting their characters as Firth and Thomas, Biel appears very "actorly" for the vast majority of time she's on screen. She's not speaking. She's reading lines. And Biel is also far too young and fresh-looking for her role as its sculpted by Jobbins and Elliott.Easy Virtue is an easy mark for a critic. You could gush over Coward's words the work most of the actors or you could pick apart the pacing and tone and Biel's inappropriate presence. I'll say it's a movie you probably won't love but you probably won't hate it, either. Your affection for Noel Coward should probably decide whether to watch it or not.

Although this film was technically well-made in a beautiful location with some interesting shots, I could never find it believable no matter how hard I tried! It was really difficult to tell whether the filmmakers were trying to realistically portray the lifestyle and morals of the time, or whether they wanted to take more liberties with it (Sex Bomb?). As it is, it feels quite uneven.As well, the character of John was completely undeveloped. I couldn't even describe him if you asked me to. I think the screenplay could have done a much better job of developing his character. Jessica Biel's acting seemed quite forced; I was always aware she was really trying to "act" the part of a worldly opinionated young woman. And(although this might be the same in the Coward original) her character seemed like a bit of a psycho! Larita gives a moving speech about love, but throughout the film she doesn't seem sensitive at all to others' needs and feelings - if she doesn't like them, it means she can treat them however she wants.The soundtrack was also bordering on excessive.All in all, a bit of a disappointment. I wasn't expecting "great cinema" or anything, but I wish this film was less ramshackle.