MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 366 this week

An Ideal Husband (1999)

PG-13  |   |  Comedy, Romance  |  18 June 1999 (USA)
6.9
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.9/10 from 12,301 users   Metascore: 67/100
Reviews: 132 user | 102 critic | 25 from Metacritic.com

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful Government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed.... See full summary »

Director:

Writers:

(play), (screenplay)
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

Free at IMDb

WATCH NOW
ON DISC

Celebrate IMDb's 25th Anniversary with Photos We Love

IMDb turns 25 on October 17! To celebrate, we put together a gallery of some of our favorite movie, TV, and event photos from the last 25 years.

See the Photos We Love

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 27 titles
created 04 Feb 2012
 
a list of 49 titles
created 14 Apr 2012
 
a list of 29 titles
created 13 May 2012
 
a list of 22 titles
created 17 Nov 2012
 
a list of 25 titles
created 29 Jun 2014
 

Related Items

Search for "An Ideal Husband" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: An Ideal Husband (1999)

An Ideal Husband (1999) on IMDb 6.9/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of An Ideal Husband.

User Polls

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 15 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

In 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.

Director: Oliver Parker
Stars: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

In mid-1800s England, Oscar is a young Anglican priest, a misfit and an outcast, but with the soul of an angel. As a boy, even though from a strict Pentecostal family, he felt God told him ... See full summary »

Director: Gillian Armstrong
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciarán Hinds
Emma (1996)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

In rural 1800s England things go bad for a young matchmaker after she finds a man for another woman.

Director: Douglas McGrath
Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, James Cosmo, Greta Scacchi
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

On a rainy London night in 1946, novelist Maurice Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles, husband of his ex-mistress Sarah, who abruptly ended their affair two years before. ... See full summary »

Director: Neil Jordan
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

Rising politician Robert Chiltern once sold secret information and is now being blackmailed by Laura Evely. She has proof and it will damage his career and marriage severely. Chiltern calls in the help of his friend Arthur Goring.

Director: William P. Cartlidge
Stars: James Wilby, Sadie Frost, Jonathan Firth
Drama | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

An ambitious debut for writer/director Bart Freundlich charting the unrest with a family who gather together for thanks giving.

Director: Bart Freundlich
Stars: Julianne Moore, Roy Scheider, Noah Wyle
Drama | Romance | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A young Scottish woman joins the French Resistance during World War II to rescue her Royal Air Force boyfriend who is lost in France.

Director: Gillian Armstrong
Stars: Cate Blanchett, James Fleet, Abigail Cruttenden
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

The romantic myth is exposed for Guy when he is plagued by memories of an old girlfriend on his wedding day.

Director: Cherie Nowlan
Stars: Richard Roxburgh, Cate Blanchett, Frances O'Connor
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

Amidst a sea of litigation, two New York City divorce lawyers find love.

Director: Peter Howitt
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Julianne Moore, Parker Posey
Persuasion (1995)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Eight years earlier, Anne Elliot, the daughter of a financially troubled aristocratic family, was persuaded to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a young seaman, who, though ... See full summary »

Director: Roger Michell
Stars: Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Susan Fleetwood
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting... See full summary »

Director: James Ivory
Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

At 10, Fanny Price, a poor relation, goes to live at Mansfield Park, the estate of her aunt's husband, Sir Thomas. Clever, studious, and a writer with an ironic imagination and fine moral ... See full summary »

Director: Patricia Rozema
Stars: Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Neville Phillips ...
...
...
Nickolas Grace ...
...
...
...
Edit

Storyline

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful Government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Sir Robert turns for help to his friend Lord Goring, an apparently idle philanderer and the despair of his father. Goring knows the lady of old, and, for him, takes the whole thing pretty seriously. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

He just doesn't know it yet.

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief sensuality/nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

18 June 1999 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Un esposo ideal  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£492,309 (UK) (16 April 1999)

Gross:

$18,535,191 (USA) (1 October 1999)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rupert Everett starred in the film version of The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), the play they attended in the movie. See more »

Goofs

Several MPs including Lord Caversham are shown wearing top hats in Parliament. MPs didn't (and still don't) wear hats during a session of the House, unless they are raising a Point of Order while a vote is in progress. See more »

Quotes

Lord Arthur Goring: I love you... I love you.
Mabel: Is that your reason then?
Lord Arthur Goring: Mmm. Mabel, I said...
Mabel: I know.
Lord Arthur Goring: Well? Couldn't you you love me just a little bit in return?
Mabel: Arthur, you silly! If you knew anything about anything, which you don't, you would know that I absolutely adore you.
Lord Arthur Goring: Really?
Mabel: Mmm.
Lord Arthur Goring: Well, why didn't you say anything before?
Mabel: Because, dear boy, you never would have believed me.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The credits list Oliver Parker, the director, as playing "Bunbury", one of the gentlemen that is seen playing cards with Lord Goring in the Men's Club when Lord Chiltern arrives. Bunbury is also a never-seen character in "The Importance of Being Earnest", the play which is performed in the background of several scenes of this film. See more »

Connections

Version of Ein idealer Gatte (1935) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

Another 'modernisation' goes wrong.
28 November 2004 | by (London, England) – See all my reviews

One of the principal sources of humour in Wilde's plays comes from pricking at the inflated egos, pious humbug and ignorance of the upper classes. There is always a Wildean character to reverse a clicheed expression or invert conventional 'wisdom.' Unfortunately, by stripping most of his characters of their stiff formality and rigid social code, the writer and director have removed the butt of the joke and Wilde's comments on absurdity are left without a punchline. The attempt to work in anachronistic social relevance leaves us with a set of feeble characters who fall in love with each other for no obvious reason. Because Wilde's language has been sterilised the actors have to use mugging to express the personalities Wilde created. Result, a charmless and dated 'political' drama as credible as a Jeffery Archer novel. Gertrude is insecure and fretful where she should be smug and priggish- Mabel is arch where she should be caustic- Poor Oscar - gets no 'Oscar'!


27 of 43 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
An Ideal Husband or The Importance of being Ernest? FineEyes_PertOpinions
Goring and Mabel. Does *any*one else think this is wrong? moviegoer36
Lord Goring's Lover? lkpurdy
They got the meaning of the title wrong Bookluvr221
the play within the movie mwlin
Julianne Moore Wendolene_Ramsbottom
Discuss An Ideal Husband (1999) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page