Relative Values

My first thought when I first watched this movie was of how similar it was to the writing styles of P.G. Wodehouse and the famous English playwright Oscar Wilde. The storyline starts off deceptively simply and slowly builds in complexity until a frenetic climax explodes all over the viewer. It is virtually impossible to try and explain the plot to someone because it simply has too many twists and turns.

This movie is an unusual one for Ms. Tripplehorne in that she plays a glamorous Grace Kelly/Marilyn Monroe-esque movie star instead of her usual supporting actress role. I thought it was a lovely change and she did a stunning job capturing the mannerisms and acting style of the era. The little movie clip of her and "Don Lucas" in the preposterously titled 'A Kiss in the Dark' was so (very bad) Casablanca that I just had to laugh.

The story progressed beautifully with little touches of absurdity in just the right places, such as the poor unfortunate maid walking (read 'running') the dogs across the manor grounds. And because good comedy comes in threes, we see her three times throughout the movie.

But for me, the real winner in this movie is Colin Firth's role as Peter, the ubiquitous nephew-in-residence. His lines are delivered beautifully, but it is his facial expressions, and soft, unspoken mimicry of Miranda Frayle that really clinch it. His smart-aleck remarks are tempered with just enough Britishness to keep them from being outright obnoxious. It's lovely to see him in a role that must have been so much fun.

On the whole, I thought the movie was marvelous. It's full of deliciously sketched characters, masterfully crafted dialogue, very effective camera work, beautiful costumes and props, and of course, ridiculous coincidences that serve to drive the plot towards its inevitable conclusion. A great movie to enjoy yourself and also to recommend to your mother or anyone else with discriminating taste.

This is based on a Noel Coward play, so you should know what to expect.

It is very nicely done - the locations look great (Isle of Man standing in for Kent), the cars and clothes are fabulous, and the casting is excellent. Stephen Fry plays a butler (again) with some Jeevesian touches, but is pretty low-key. Colin Firth plays against type in the role Coward so obviously designed for himself - and is funny (again, not something one expects from Firth). Jeanne Tripplehorn looks suitably glamorous as the Hollywood star, and Baldwin This does make a few digs at class and snobbery, but it is really a bit of fluffy comedy to pass a pleasant hour.

Relative Values was never given a Broadway production during the lifetime of Noel Coward. It only made it there in 1986 thirteen years after Noel died. But in the original British production the star was the formidable Gladys Cooper. She's in the role of Duchess of Marchwood so Julie Andrews had some big shoes to fill.

I'll have to say that Andrews did it good style and a British production of even a second line Noel Coward work is better than a lot that is around. What I found interesting that with his various trips across the pond Coward felt comfortable enough to put some American characters in his work.

Andrews is the mother of Edward Atterton who is a well known jet setting playboy who always comes home to mother especially when things go spectacularly bad or good. Depending on your point of view he arrives home with American movie star Jeanne Tripplehorn in tow who is on the rebound from a breakup. They're going to be married, a fact that does not please mother.

Neither does it please William Baldwin who is an action film star of the era, late Forties when the play was written. He's who Tripplehorn is on the rebound from and he wants her back. He knows full well that Tripplehorn would be bored to tears as the lady of the manor in training in the quiet English countryside.

Add to all of that Sophia Thompson is personal maid to Andrews and she's Tripplehorn's long lost sister. It all comes to a head when Tripplehorn starts spouting off the invented studio biography where Thompson who has a fake status of her own for the occasion just explodes and these two have a cat fight to beat all.

Observing all this are butler Stephen Fry and cousin Colin Firth who seems to be a permanent house guest. They get the lion's share of the Coward wit in the dialog. This is Coward who was the pet of the English society. But Coward's third voice in the film is that of Thompson. Coward came from some pretty humble background and she also might very well be modeled on Coward's good friend from adolescence Gertrude Lawrence who also came from most modest means.

Relative Values was a pleasure to see because other than his really acclaimed work like Blithe Spirit or Private Lives, too little of Coward is played today. We could certainly use some of his wit now. I often wonder what Coward would have made of some of the events of the last forty years.

This is great fun and a reminder of when actors and actresses just weren't welcome in polite society (and why). Just watching Colin Firth's face is delicious, he is subtle, funny and brilliant! The star-struck maid alone is worth the price of admission; and Stephen Frye is a perfect butler to Julie's elegant, polished master of each successive situation. Sophie Thompson steals the dinner scene and just about every other one she is in. This is a fabulous, literate comedy of manners with everyone spot-on with their characters. Every time I watch it I find something clever, witty and subtle that I missed the previous time. Just sit back and have fun watching all the stereotypes get skewered.

For anyone who enjoys British class distinctions and the upstairs-downstairs culture of life among the manor born, this stylish tale of a Hollywood actress who is preparing to marry into a quirky aristocratic family is sumptuously designed and a great deal of fun. Julie Andrews shines, as does Jeanne Triplehorn and Stephen Fry as the butler who is impeccably correct amid the chaos which ensues when things inevitably begin to go awry. It is a farce that absolutely works. The 1950s era is captured with elegant attention to detail and the characters, for all their foibles, are likable and thoroughly engaging. Great entertainment for anyone who is lucky enough to happen upon it!