Blithe Spirit

Full credit to Dan Stevens for keeping his resume as diverse as possible. Post Downton Abbey, he has played heinous villains, a Disney Beast, a Marvel antihero, Charles Dickens, and even a bare-chested Scandinavian pop idol. With Blithe Spirit, he adds a dapper Noel Coward protagonist to the list.

Stevens follows in the footsteps of Rex Harrison, who starred in David Lean’s 1945 adaptation of Coward’s 1941 stage comedy. The setup is simple: Novelist Charles Condomine (Stevens) invites a hack spiritualist, Madame Arcati (Judi Dench), to perform a seance at his house, hoping to get material for a book. Instead, the seance accidentally conjures Charles’s dead wife, Elvira (Leslie Mann), whom only Charles can see and hear. This complicates his relationship with his second wife, Ruth (Isla Fisher).

Stevens was clearly the driving force in reviving the Coward story, as it’s directed by first-timer Edward Hall, an experienced TV director who worked on Downton. The screenplay, which piles on a 1930s Hollywood subplot — Ruth’s father is producing a movie based on Charles’ first novel — is credited to three people.

What’s missing is any apparent reason for this new adaptation, apart from the cast’s interest in playing Coward’s elegant and eloquent inventions. The joke onstage was that one character (and, later, another) was “invisible” to most of the others; on film, Elvira simply pops in and out of frame depending on whose point of view is being depicted. Coward was known for his witty, provocative (for the time) dialogue, much of which has been cut here in favor of new subplots and “opening out” — inventing new scenes outside of the Condomines’ home. (The elaborate period costumes and production design are Downton worthy.)

What Coward remains is frequently funny, although Stevens and Fisher seem distrustful of the material and overact, Saturday Night Live style, to make sure we know we’re watching a comedy. Mann has the flashiest role and has some fun with it, but she’s often out of synch with her two hyperventilating co-stars. Dench just plays her part as written, without wide-eyed or sardonic embellishment, and she is therefore the best thing in the movie.

It’s hard to recommend Blithe Spirit to either Coward fans, who will find it weirdly altered, or newbies, who deserve a better introduction to the play. If you’re a Dan Stevens completist, have at it, but don’t expect anything particularly blithe or spirited.

Grade: C-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at Flat Rock Cinema

(Photo: IFC Films)