In 1924, the famed Noel Coward, at the tender age of 23, penned the play, "Easy Virtue". A similarly young and famed director by the name of Alfred Hitchcock put the story on screen in 1928. It is a lampoon of the upper crust of England in the 1920's.
John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) is a young, well-connected and well-to-do Englishman who tumbles into love and marriage with Larita (Jessica Biel), a beautiful young American race car driver. She is of different "stock" than John's family and this is the basis for all that takes place in "Easy Virtue". As you might expect, John's family, especially his mother Mrs. Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas), is bent on destroying John's marriage to this "undeserving" young American commoner. The stage is set. The combatants have been assigned their respective tasks. It's Larita versus Mrs. Whittaker in a Texas death match with the winner taking possession of the younger Mr. Whittaker.
Larita tries her very best to fit in with her husband's family but it is clear from the first time they are all together that this will be no easy task. In fact, it looks down near impossible. Mrs. Whittaker meets every attempt by Larita with derision and sneering, and that's when she is in a fairly good mood. At other times she is just plain nasty. Larita makes the decision to fight for her man and go toe-to-to with her mother-in-law. A slugfest ensues. Both ladies are tough as nails and refuse to yield an inch. The strategy of Mrs. Whittaker is to provoke Larita. Larita's counter-strategy is to remain calm and shake off all that is thrown at her. Both ladies score points but neither scores a knockout. All of the other characters here are window dressing, including the husband/son, John.
While Mrs. Whittaker is having trouble stopping Larita, her manipulations are working on her son. This puts Larita into overdrive in an attempt to save her marriage. She switches from defense to offense but soon encounters a deep secret from her past that tilts the contest in Mrs. Whittaker's favor. How this unfolds and is handled by our lead characters is the key to the film.
Unfortunately, everything about "Easy Virtue" feels a bit forced and unnatural. It is all done professionally and the performances are all solid, if not spectacular. Even the normally outstanding Kristin Scott Thomas is reduced to competence, a huge drop from her usual high standard of work. "Easy Virtue" is an okay film. If I rated it any better than that I would be sacrificing a small part of my ever-shrinking virtue.
