The Importance of Being Earnest is a
2002 film directed by
Oliver Parker, based on
Oscar Wilde's classic
comedy of manners play
The Importance of Being Earnest. The original music score is composed by
Charlie Mole. The movie grossed about 8.3 million
dollars.
[Films of 2002, by total gross]
Plot
The
plot revolves around two men in
Edwardian England, John (Jack) Worthing and Algernon (Algy) Moncrieff. Whenever Jack travels to
London from his
Hertfordshire estate he says he is going to see his (fictitious) wayward brother Ernest. Once in London he keeps his privacy by calling himself Ernest. This tactic is especially important as his beloved, Gwendolen, declares that she could only love a man named Ernest. Her cousin, Algy, is the one person who knows Jack's secret and one day he travels down to the estate, announcing himself to Jack's attractive ward Cecily as the infamous Ernest. Cecily is enamoured with him and his name, and upon Jack's return home and Gwendolen's unexpected arrival it becomes clear there are both too many and too few Ernests earnestly courting.
