A Good Woman (2004)

While retaining her secret identity, the illustrious Mrs. Erlynne (Hunt) saves Lady Windemere (Johansson) from making a grand social faux-pas with the scoundrelly Lord Darlington (Moore).

Director:

Mike Barker

Writers:

Oscar Wilde (play), Howard Himelstein (screenplay)

Stars:

Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson, Milena Vukotic

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Hunt	...	Mrs. Erlynne
Scarlett Johansson	...	Meg Windermere
Milena Vukotic	...	Contessa Lucchino
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Lord Darlington
Mark Umbers	...	Robert Windemere
Roger Hammond	...	Cecil
John Standing	...	Dumby
Tom Wilkinson	...	Tuppy
Giorgia Massetti	...	Alessandra
Diana Hardcastle	...	Lady Plymdale
Shara Orano	...	Francesca
Jane How	...	Mrs. Stutfield
Bruce McGuire	...	Waiter Joe
Michael Stromme	...	Hotel Desk Clerk
Antonio Barbaro	...	Paulo

Storyline

In 1930, Mrs. Erlynne, who describes herself as poor and infamous, driven from New York society by jealous wives, sees a news photo of wealthy Lord Windermere and his young wife: she heads for the Amalfi Coast to be among the rich and famous for 'the season' and to snare Mr. Windermere. Gossips twitter as he spends his afternoons with her, his wife blissfully innocent as she blushingly fends off attentions from a young English nobleman, an international playboy who thinks he's in love. Mrs. Erlynne is also pursued by a worldly-wise older English nobleman. Mrs. Windermere's 20th birthday party approaches, where all plays out amid numerous amoral Wildean aphorisms.

---

Plot Keywords:

lord | lady | gossip | 1930s | birthday | 

---

Taglines:

Seduction. Sex. Scandal. She's the talk of the town.

---

Genres:

Drama | Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material, sensuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Films [us] Vertigo Films [uk]

Country:

UK Italy Spain Luxembourg USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

13 May 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

Mujer seductora, amante perfecta

Filming Locations:

Amalfi, Salerno, Campania, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$97,060 (USA) (3 February 2006)

Gross:

$223,144 (USA) (17 February 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beyond Films, Magic Hour Media, Thema Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joseph Fiennes was originally offered the role of Lord Darlington, but turned it down to play Bassanio in Michael Radford's adaptation of The Merchant of Venice (2004).

---

Goofs

In the scene where Meg is painting her nails (after discovering her husband has been writing checks to Mrs. Erlynne), the nail varnish clearly has a gray plastic lid, which wouldn't have been available in this era.

---

Quotes

Alessandra: Now I see uncle. He's with the American woman.
Contessa Lucchino: Too much rouge and not enough clothing. She's appealing to the worst in the poor man.
Lord Darlington: It's what women do best.

---

Connections

Version of Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)

---

Soundtracks

"Pie Jesu"
(Blessed Jesus)
from Requiem
Written by Gabriel Fauré
Arranged and Produced by Richard G. Mitchell

User Reviews

Stylish little numbers like this should come around more often...

Interesting movie! Probably to the contrary of many other viewers, I went to see this partly because I was intrigued by one of the supporting cast - Mark Umbers, a young British actor who plays Mr Robert Windermere. However, I was pleasantly surprised by all the cast. Tom Wilkinson is, as ever, a joy to watch - it's certainly impressive how he can persuasively portray both fantastically nice characters such as Tuppy, and also villains like Lord Queensberry in "Wilde". Helen Hunt was surprisingly beautiful as Mrs Erlynne, and a mention should go out to Stephen Campbell-Moore too. The locations were superb, the 30s vibe worked gratifyingly well, and in general I feel it did the Wilde original justice beautifully. Definitely recommendable.