The Cole Porter and Noël Coward jazz-age tracks fly suitably thick and fast on the soundtrack to this 1924-set dramedy. A bit of Let's Misbehave here, a bit of Mad Dogs and Englishmen there. A bit of Makin' Whoopee over there.
Then, about two-thirds into the film, you start to notice anachronistic music. The Tom Jones pop standard Sexbomb, for one, pulses happily in the background of fox hunts, tea parties and country house shenanigans, only this time it's done in disguise, with the same Porter-ish jazz inflections as the other tunes. It is followed swiftly by Billy Ocean's When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going, previously used in the 1985 Michael Douglas action hit The Jewel of the Nile, but here again, appropriately aged by the hard brass flapper stylings of the era.
That these songs never quite ignite or move beyond musical curios on a soundtrack otherwise loyal to the period reflects a nagging sense of compromise that often slows the movie in its tracks. It is directed by Stephan Elliott, who proved in his 1994 smash The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert that he is keenly aware of the transformative power of a good pop tune. Yet here he seems hesitant and unsure of whether to load his soundtrack with contemporary gems (therefore letting his cast in on the joke) or simply to drop the two modern oddities in the background (perplexing his audience as much as entertaining it).
Perhaps it's the source material that intimidates. Elliott has chosen an early Coward play that it is littered with the writer's trademark bons mots and full of scabrous and unusually anti-English insights into the corrosive nature of the British class system (Coward was going through a pro-American phase when he wrote the play).
An adaptation of Easy Virtue is a monumental task for any writer-director. But for Elliott, coming off the post-Priscilla flops Welcome to Woop Woop and Eye of the Beholder, the challenge has produced a respectful assimilation of Coward where innovation was clearly required.
Thus we are presented with a narrative that revolves around a sweet but dim English heir called John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) and his older and wiser American bride, Larita (Jessica Biel). Larita is a motor car racer, a winner of the Monaco Grand Prix and, in the eyes of John's possessive mother, Mrs Whittaker (Thomas), a hugely unsuitable love match.
In the days after John and Larita arrive at the family pile, a series of increasingly fractious comedy set pieces test the mettle of both women - and the love of this increasingly equivocal heir. Larita, a prototype feminist and no-nonsense American, takes a motorbike on a fox hunt. She accidentally talks John's sister Hilda (Kimberley Nixon) into exposing herself at a local amateur revue, and she crushes the Whittaker family's beloved pet Chihuahua in a freak sofa-sitting accident. The latter incident, unfortunately, produces a lot of physical slapstick (where do you hide a dead chihuahua?) that might have seemed vital on paper but mostly jars with the rest of the movie's sedate tone.
Of course, this being Coward with a first-rate cast, there are some genuinely intriguing turns. Thomas's matriarch is a fascinating study in withered ambition. She is a woman whose love for her son turns out to be, in the satisfying revelation, based on complex emotions rather than Oedipal pampering. The actress clearly relishes knockout lines delivered at Biel's outclassed seductress.
Colin Firth, too, as the jaded, disillusioned Mr Whittaker, has a steady supply of pithy put-downs. "I don't feel like smiling," complains Mrs Whittaker as John and Larita approach for the first time.
"You're English, dear. Fake it," Mr Whittaker deadpans.
Of course, nice lines alone never saved a movie, and too often in Easy Virtue they appear to be crutches for a film in search of a narrative voice or a coherent vision. That the film lacks both of these and is still reasonably entertaining is a testament to the source material and to Elliott's unobtrusive directorial presence. That it could have been so much more is obvious from the little hints of virtuosity (in both performance and music) that nearly break through the dutiful business of adaptation.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
'Nope'
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Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The%20specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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MANDOOB
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The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Civil%20War
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
