A more serious problem is that Parker doesn't trust his material and - under the guise of pointing up Wilde's subversive wit - has opted to play safe.

[An] utterly miscalculated film adaptation of Wilde's play.

This may be a less than ideal "Earnest," but it still has delights...

Parker's film implicitly endorses the conventional morality that the play-a drama, let us not forget, by the author of "The Truth of Masks" and "The Decay of Lying"-so hilariously lampooned.