WRITER-director Stephan Elliott (The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert) revives Noel Coward's comedy across the class divide with this handsome jaunt into the British countryside.

Set at the tail end of the 1920s, Easy Virtue immerses us in a rarefied world of stiff upper lips and lavish stately homes, where the appearance of wealth is paramount to a family's standing.

Chaos erupts when an outsider strays into this microcosm of staunch tradition and etiquette, and dares to challenge the status quo.

Needless to say, the locals come out fighting, armed with a dizzying array of one-liners that still smart more than 80 years after Coward committed them to the page.

Jessica Biel is a revelation in her leading role as a glamorous fish out of water, managing to combine elegance and vulnerability with slapstick to often hilarious effect.

A macabre set-piece involving the ill-fated family dog is a particularly treat, marred slightly by Elliott's decision to let the joke run.