A good woman (Helen Hunt)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over eleven years since we watched the DVD of the 2004 film ‘A good woman’, and we had both forgotten everything about it. As the story progressed, I remembered that it was an adaptation - or a film based on - the Oscar Wilde play ‘Lady Windermere’s fan’. But since I’m not familiar with the play, it didn’t help me recall any details of the film.

A woman called Mrs Erlynne (Helen Hunt) is really the main protagonist of this film, which is set in the 1930s. We meet her leaving New York where she has a lot of unpaid debts. And we quickly learn that she’s the kind of woman who attracts men, usually married ones. There’s a lot of gossip about her, much of it accurate.

The action moves to the Amalfi coast in Italy.  A young couple - Lord Windermere (Mark Umbers) and his American wife Meg (Scarlett Johansson) - are having a long holiday there. They’ve been married for a year, and she’s about to celebrate her 21st birthday. They are clearly devoted to each other, but Mrs Erlynne has her sights set on them… and we start seeing him arriving, secretly, at her house, followed by writing cheques to her. 

Despite being heavily in debt, Mrs Erlynne mixes in the highest circles, and eats at the finest restaurants. She has a lot of upper-class friends, including Tuppy (Tom Wilkinson) who is very rich, and determined that she should be his next wife. She doesn’t think she’s good wife material, but she does like the idea of a wealthy husband.

And then there’s Lord Darlington (Stephen Campbell Moore, who for some reason kept reminding me of a younger Hugh Laurie!) who is quite a playboy. He’s very attracted to Meg, and flirts with her, although she’s quite straitlaced and finds it embarrassing. She would like to be friends with him, but no more. But he’s quite determined.

As with other Oscar Wilde stories, there are misunderstandings that lead to a lot of confusion and some heartbreak. There’s also some humour, mainly in the gossipping ladies and the elderly men who surround Tuppy. There’s a lot of sexism, of course, but that was somewhat typical of the era. And there’s a great deal of cynicism about marriage. Nobody can quite believe that Meg and her husband actually love each other, and even she starts to doubt it when she discovers cheque stubs that he has written.

The acting is excellent, if a tad overdone, almost as if it were a stage show. After some initial confusion - the accents are all very similar - I found myself quite caught up in the story. I hadn’t recalled what the outcome was of Lord Windermere’s visits to Mrs Erlynne, nor had I remembered what was going to happen to Meg. I hoped for everything to be resolved happily, but it wasn’t clear what the future would hold until almost the end.

The pace is good, the tension builds well. The fan featured in the original title is an expensive gift to Meg which plays an important role towards the end of the film.  The rating is PG, which reflects the lack of violence, the minimal bad language, and the implied rather than overt scenes of intimacy. But it’s not a children’s film; I can’t imagine anyone under the age of about fifteen or sixteen finding this even slightly interesting. And since the theme relates to adultery and affairs, the 'parental guidance' advice is relevant.

We enjoyed the film, and will probably watch it again in another decade or so.

There are no extras on our DVD. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews