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The ideal husband - Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Oliver Parker

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

He just doesn't know it yet.

Devoted womaniser and tireless party-goer Arthur Goring (Rupert Everett) is famed throughout London for his elegance, repartee and refusal to take anything seriously. But when called upon by his life-long friend Sir Robert (Jeremy Northam) to resolve an unusually delicate matter, Arthur instantly rises to the occasion.

Sir Robert Chiltern is a man who has everything. A brilliant politician and a perfect gentleman, he is the ideal husband for the captivating Lady Chiltern (Cate Blanchett). Admired by all, they present a picture of wedded harmony until the scheming adventuress Mrs Cheveley (Julianne Moore) threatens to reveal a dark secret from his past and the very foundations of Sir Robert's career and marriage look set to crumble.

Cornered, he turns to Arthur. Lord Goring soon finds himself caught up in a tangled web of lies, temptations and trysts. While he excels at manipulating the affairs of others, his own prove infinitely more challenging. The persistent charms of Sir Robert's sister (Minnie Driver) and the constant badgering of this own father (John Wood) pose a significant threat to Arthur's blissful bachelorhood.

Persons of interest

Cate Blanchett .... Lady Gertrude Chiltern
Minnie Driver .... Miss Mabel Chiltern
Rupert Everett .... Lord Arthur Goring
Julianne Moore .... Mrs Laura Cheveley
Jeremy Northam .... Sir Robert Chiltern
John Wood .... Lord Caversham
Peter Vaughan .... Phipps
Ben Pullen .... Tommy Trafford
Marsha Fitzalan .... Countess
Lindsay Duncan .... Lady Markby
Neville Phillips .... Mason
Nickolas Grace .... Vicomte de Nanjac
Simon Russell Beale .... Sir Edward
Anna Patrick .... Miss Danvers
Delia Lindsay .... Lady Basildon
Denise Stephenson .... Gwendolen in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Charles Edwards .... Jack in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Nancy Carroll .... Cecily in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Andy Harrison .... Algernon in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Jill Balcon .... Lady Bracknell in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Janet Henfrey .... Miss Prism in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Toby Robertson .... Canon Chasuble in stage production of The importance of being earnest
Michael Culkin .... Oscar Wilde
Oliver Parker .... Bunbury
Doug Bradley .... Brackpool
Stephen May .... Burlington
Jeroen Krabbé .... Baron Arnheim
Oliver Ford Davies .... Sir Hugo Danforth
John Thompson .... The Speaker
Oscar Wilde .... Playwright
Oliver Parker .... Director

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

As you will recall from when you read my review for Wilde, I recommended that you see one of the great man's plays. Well, now you can, on the big screen.

The ideal husband is a comedy of manners, rich people wandering about being rich and behaving like only English rich people can: badly or English. Because this story is by Oscar Wilde, the bad are very bad and the good are very English.

Jeremy Northam continues his thing as the excessively marriageable English gentleman, Rupert Everett is the brilliantly funny second-stringer (straight, this time, or as straight as any of Oscar Wilde's boys can be), Cate Blanchett is the inestimable English lady beyond both reproach and belief, while Julianne Moore is a red-headed bitch from hell. Woo hoo!

Adapted closely from the play of the same name, The ideal husband is peppered with Oscar Wilde's incredible wit ("Loving oneself is the beginning of a life-long relationship") and style. The plot wraps around itself like a front-loading washing machine, sucking you in and turning you round and round until you can only hang on and enjoy the ride. Because this is the 90s you also get to see things which Oscar Wilde was never allowed to show you but would dearly have loved to (sex is good, isn't it?)

This is a funny, sexy, intriguing film for anyone with an IQ bigger than their shoe size. See it, live it, be it.