What a joy it is to see an ensemble of the best actors working at the top of their form, and saying the words of one of the most intelligent and comic writers in the English language. This very stylish film plays out against the sumptuous settings of upper-class Edwardian London. It almost cries out for the music of Lerner and Loewe. Rupert Everett is perfect, as are Julienne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Jeremy Northam, and Minnie Driver. My only criticism, and this is nit-picking, is that the film switches too abruptly from serious to comic and back again, instead of maintaining a consistency of focus, as did the glorious Broadway production of two seasons ago.

If you love period pictures, sarcasm and egotism, you'll love this film. The ensemble cast includes Rupert Everett as a self-loving bachelor and Jeremy Northam as his close friend who is being blackmailed. While both men are excellent, the show is stolen by the three women in the film, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, and Minnie Driver. Moore is simply evil, Blanchett is stunning as both Moore's antithesis and Northam's wife, and Driver balances it all off nicely as the woman who seems to find herself always in the middle. It would not surprise me if any one of these five gets an oscar nomination. A serious film with a very witty and bitingly sarcastic undertone. Its good luck if you can find it playing anywhere near you.