An Ideal Husband
Miramax Films | Release Date: June 18, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyDerek Elley
Shines like a freshly minted coin in Oliver Parker's adaptation. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's a movie of uncommon eloquence and elegance, acted by a truly gifted cast. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Makes the translation with all its wit, incisive dialogue and eccentric characters intact, and then some. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It all seems calculated to churn up excitement, a promise that there's lots of dazzle, glamour and intrigue to come. An Ideal Husband actually does deliver all those things, but mostly in a pleasurably understated way -- no need for the noisy signals. Read full review
80
Film.comElizabeth Weitzman
It still sounds pretty fresh: politicians scratching backs, loose ladies threatening to talk, careers balanced tremulously on the line Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
The political, social, and linguistic adjustments Parker makes to this hugely entertaining Husband give it fresh relevance without betraying the original. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Parker has shaped the play to make it more film-friendly and relevant, but he has done so with such subtlety you would have to be a Wilde authority even to notice. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Parker stays with and even streamlines Wilde's clever manipulations of betrayals and lies and plots and counterplots. Yet the film never feels stagy. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
What shakes the dust off this period piece is the vibrant acting. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The two leading men, Northam and Everett, are smooth and charming. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The only problem I was faced with was trying to understand what exactly it was that I enjoyed, and how this movie differed from the play I'd read. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
We are amused. We are not sputtering into our teacups, but we are chortling lightly. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Life at the top has rarely looked or sounded more fabulously elegant. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's lavish, clever entertainment, a welcome opportunity to laugh without shame. Read full review
70
Film.comRobert Horton
The film version of this civilized beauty, captures the amusing gloss of the story but not the sense that something grave is going on beneath it all. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRon Wells
The film is not without its problems, some inherent to Wilde's original play. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAmy Taubin
His film is hardly memorable, but it's amusing enough for two hours, and it never panders or cloys. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
The movie is diverting enough -- it's good fun -- but much of the genius is gone with the wind. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Our familiarity with the actors, and their comfort in this period setting, lend the piece an unexpected air of naturalism. Read full review
60
NewsweekAndrea C. Basora
Beautifully appointed, fairly bursting with splendid sets and divine costumes, but it ultimately fails to capture the essence of Wilde's airy wit. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
An ideal play is degraded into an indolent film Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Director- writer Oliver Parker saps much of the juice from Wilde, slows the pace and directs his actors in an inappropriately naturalistic style. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Leans so heavily on its stars that their performances are marred by their emptiness. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleHollis Chacona
This big-screen version of Wilde's stylish match of deceit and honor, loyalty and betrayal, is more parry than thrust. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Parker has boiled An Ideal Husband into a thuddingly unimaginative costume drama laden with frocks, riding crops, servile butlers and very good actors desperately treading water. Read full review
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