Think you can throw a good zinger? Think again. John Hurt once again portrays pithy gay icon Quentin Crisp in this winning, witticism-strewn, star-studded and poignant sequel to The Naked Civil Servant.

Kicking off with an energetic note, An Englishman in New York sees the elderly Crisp turned celebrity thanks to a TV movie based on his life, The Naked Civil Servant. He lands a one-man show in New York, in which Crisp shares his witticisms and acerbic philosophies (“Never keep up with the Joneses, drag them down to your level--it’s cheaper!”) and decides to take up permanent residence in the city that never sleeps. There he befriends gay magazine editor Philip Steele (Denis O’Hare) and lonely young artist Patrick Angus (Jonathan Tucker). In the AIDS-ravaged early ’80s, Crisp commits a major faux pas that alienates his friends and the very community he once stood up for (in one scene, Crisp is menaced by a group of angry homosexuals — a profound flipside to Civil Servant’s encounters with menacing heterosexuals). But with help from performance artist Penny Arcade (Cynthia Nixon), Crisp finds his way back into the spotlight — and reconciliation. Hurt is a delight donning Crisp’s hats and ascots for the second time, also shedding new light on the icon as a human being — vulnerable yet headstrong, resolute yet humane — while bringing us one last glibicism-loaded romp with the Big Apple’s adopted Oscar Wilde. -- Lawrence Ferber