K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 10/15/2023...
Snail slow speed! Boring!
Meghan A. (bookreadera)
Reviewed on 2/13/2012...
I avoided this version because I believed nothing would ever compete with the beloved A&E miniseries. I was wrong. No adaptataion will ever truly capture the novel and I wouldn't consider this a definitive version, but it's a very good film. The costuming and cinematography are wonderful and the casting (barring two strange exceptions) is spot on.
Tom Hollander is the best Mr. Collins I've seen. His portrayal is more in keeping with how I read Mr. Collins in the novel. Most TV, film, and stage adaptations play him too over the top, farcical even. Austen is great with irony, but IMO, too subdued and subtle for farce.
Kiera Knightly does a good Elizabeth Bennet. I think she would have been better with a bit more material, but this is a film and not a miniseries so judging her against the A&E version would be a bit unfair.
I wasn't feeling Judi Dench or Donald Sutherland in their roles, odd because I'm a big fan of both, but they each seemed somewhat off...
Matthew Macfadyen's proposal is better than the one written for Colin Firth, and I like him better as Darcy! Astounding as I wouldn't have believed anyone could be a better Darcy than Firth. That's the main reason I stayed away from this version for so long. Macfadyen's Darcy seems uncomfortable dealing with anyone on a personal level and appears to need the behavioral constructs of his social class in order to relate to anyone. He managed to retain Darcy's elitism without pushing it over into snobbery (my only complaint with Firth's Darcy is that he is SUCH a snob it seemed his good qualities wouldn't redeem him, not in my eyes anyway.)
I like the overall lighter feel of this version as well. I won't throw away any of my more dramatic versions, but I'll be adding this version to my keeper shelf for those days when I'd like a little more light romance and a little less angst and drama.
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