Short Review: If you read Cliff Notes for entertainment, you'll love this movie.


Charlotte Bronte dismissed Pride and Prejudice as "a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright vivid physiognomy, no open country no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck." Director Joe Wright seems to have taken as his mission to correct these perceived deficiencies. He turns his characters out-of-doors whenever possible and makes upper class assemblies and balls into rollicking hoedowns. Many scenes reminded me more of a Hogarth painting than the quiet interiors of Austen's novel. Wright also wants to bring an earthiness to this story, with shots of muddy farm scenes, and focused glimpses of pig testicles. A not-so-subtle indication that he thinks this is fundamentally a story about mating.

This kind of license with the original material might disturb my equilibrium, but it could have been much, much worse. At least no one removes his or her clothes. Although come to think of it, it comes perilously close to that toward the end when we find the hero and heroine wandering around outside in the early morning hours in what amounts to their pajamas.

What is unforgivable is the breathless pace of the thing. Important scenes last for a few fleeting seconds, and then it's off to the next location, checklist style. Maybe I'm close to the material, but I wonder whether people unfamiliar with the novel could keep up with the hectic pace. The tempo most hurts the film in terms of character development. Miss Austen created an amazing ensemble of secondary characters, who in some ways are more interesting than some of the protagonists. There is no time to meet these fascinating people. The acting is competent (except in one case), but the many characters in the background are not given the opportunity to shine. The one glaring error in casting was Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet. I would rate his English accent as "barely attempted". He brought a sappy American-movie-style dad sensibility that destroyed the nuance of the character. Keira Knightley's interpretation of Elizabeth Bennet, taken on its own terms, was executed well, though it was not to my taste. In my opinion, she exchanged the diamond wit of Elizabeth Bennet for the giggling and dreamy-eyed reveries of a junior high girl.

On a positive note, many of the scenes are eye-poppingly gorgeous. It works very well as a travel promotional for rural England.

Where does this movie fall in the line-up of recent Jane Austen adaptations? The 1995 BBC mini-series is much its superior (pity Tom Hollander, who had to go through the motions playing Mr. Collins, all the while knowing that the Platonic Ideal of Mr. Collins had been instantiated for all eternity by David Bamber back in '95). This movie is at the level of Emma (1996), but below Sense & Sensibility (1995), and far below Persuasion (1995). At least it did not sink to the level of the execrable Mansfield Park (1999).

Bottom line: Stick with the Beeb's '95 masterpiece. If you don't have five hours, this version is adequate, but beware of what you are missing.

Reviewer: Jeff Burton


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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Other Critic's Reviews:
The Anchoress
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Labels: adaptation, Carey Mulligan, Donald Sutherland, film, Jena Malone, Keira Knightley, movie review, Rosamund Pike, Talulah Riley