DVD Review: Wilde (B-)

Wilde (1997)
Directed By Brian Gilbert
Starring Stephen Fry and Jude Law
MPAA: R
Grade: B-


Review by Scott Standish

Oscar Wilde was, as proclaimed in this movie's tagline "the world's first modern man". I am not entirely sure what they mean by that, but I am guessing they mean "an educated, articulate, artistic man of liberal politics and taste". If I am am target with my guess, than I guess Wilde was certainly that, and this film really showcases that flair that made Wilde so popular, and at times, misunderstood.

The film Wilde clearly centers on the famous writer's awakening as a homosexual (after his marriage) and how it affected his career and personal life. This period piece has all the usual fluff of the now formulaic "Merchant Ivory paint by numbers and go for an Oscar" crap that floods the market every year, but this film manages to climb above the froth, due in part to the fine acting. Stephen Fry does an amazing job as the remarkable playwright Oscar Wilde. His lover the Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas is played by Jude Law, an actor that seems to provide his own indelible stamp on every role. Law was quite good in Gattica, AI, and especially eXistenz, the very underrated David Cronenberg film.

The script here is solid and the actors seem to jump off the screen with much emotion. The downsides of Wilde were the flat costume and art direction, and the sickeningly sweet "sure fire Oscar!" strings that seem to overtake key scenes (note to filmmakers: please look for alternate ways of hammering home emotion besides sappy violins).

But Wilde is definitely worth a rental. The subject matter is interesting, the handling of which was well very done (if not handled delicately this might have been a disaster) and the performances are better than expected.

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