Pride and Prejudice Reviews

Romantic Films: Pride and Prejudice (Feb 2007)

Here's a short review of Pride and Prejudice that I thought you might enjoy.

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Stylus Magazine P&P Review (Dec 2005)

Movie Review
Pride and Prejudice
2005
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Donald Sutherland
A-


it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a sound mind must be in want of a life, if he willfully submits to seeing a Jane Austen adaptation, and of his own volition no less."
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Entertainment Weekly's Review of Pride and Prejudice (Nov 2005)

Pride & Prejudice (Movie - 2005)
Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly November 11, 2005
MY GIRLS WANT TO PARTY ALL THE TIME A sumptuous, sterling addition to the Jane Austen canon
 
MY GIRLS WANT TO PARTY ALL THE TIME A sumptuous, sterling addition to the Jane Austen canon

Though often dismissed as chick flicks with manners, middlebrow literary costume dramas of the Merchant Ivory school brought a slate of virtues to the cinematic landscape. At a time when action flicks were taking over, they celebrated the pleasures of rounded storytelling, and even their proverbial theme — the tug-of-war between love and money — was tougher than it looked: At their best (A Room With a View, Persuasion), these films anatomized romance, that dance of the spiritual and the worldly, as few other movies have. Nevertheless, the genre, in recent years, has faded, a casualty of shifting tastes, and that makes it reasonable to ask: What could the dozenth adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, with lush photography and Keira Knightley, bring to the party?

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Pride and Prejudice: a review by Margaret Pomeranz (2005)

Pride and Prejudice

Review by Margaret Pomeranz

In a rustic corner of England at the end of the 18th Century, Mrs Bennet hears exciting news. A single and wealthy young man has moved into the nearby manor at Netherfield Park. With five daughters and no fortune, she makes it her mission that he should marry one of them.

Margaret: **** David: **** 1/2

The question a few people are asking, including myself, is do we really need another version of Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE after the huge success of the series which screened here on the ABC.

It’s interesting to discover that there actually hasn’t been a big screen version of this classic story since Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson starred 65 years ago.

This new film has Keira Knightley as the feisty Elizabeth Bennett and Matthew MacFadyen as her romantic nemesis Mr Darcy

This is the story of a provincial family of five daughters, father Donald Sutherland and mother, Brenda Blethyn are anxious to marry them off to wealthy men.

Because their home is entailed to a distant cousin of the family, Mr Collins, (Tom Hollander) who thinks it his duty to marry one of the daughters and Elizabeth is his choice.

The Bennett household is aflutter when the wealthy Mr. Bingley, (Simon Woods) moves into the neighbourhood. Mrs. Bennett thinks him perfect for her oldest daughter Jane, (Rosamund Pike).

Jane Austin’s slightly acerbic view of the pretentions and snobbery of her class in early 19th century England has been well and truly grounded by British director Joe Wright.

This is no pretty pretty version, ducks and geese fly as Elizabeth strides around the countryside in practical outfits, muddying her skirts.

Casting actors that are close to the age of the characters brings a strange understanding of Darcy, who is vulnerable and sweet as played by MacFadyen.

Imagine saying that about Darcy? And Mrs Bennett’s character has been softened slightly as well.

At first I resisted Joe Wright’s almost intrusive visual style, but I found myself drawn into this familiar, much-loved story and liking the differences.

Further comments

MARGARET POMERANZ: David.

DAVID STRATTON: Yes, I went to this without much expectations at all because, you know, I felt that I knew this story so well.

MARGARET POMERANZ: Yes.

DAVID STRATTON: What new could be brought to it.

MARGARET POMERANZ: It's, sort of like, Colin Firth is the definitive Darcy.

DAVID STRATTON: Yes. Darcy is such a strange character, I'd never warmed to him, and yet as Matthew McFadyen plays him, I think he is very good, and Keira Knightley, I think, is wonderful in this.

MARGARET POMERANZ: Yes, she's lovely, isn't she?

DAVID STRATTON: I think for a first cinema feature, because Joe Wright has worked in British television but this is the first film he has directed, I think it's a remarkable achievement. I loved the cinematography. I think it's beautifully choreographed. I mean, the opening sequence, going across that farmyard, into the house, around the house and so forth.

MARGARET POMERANZ: Yes.

DAVID STRATTON: Picking up all the characters is just beautifully done. The ballroom scene is fantastically well shot, too.

MARGARET POMERANZ: It is. But there are some close ups that I found really, I was going back from in the early scenes.

DAVID STRATTON: Really?

MARGARET POMERANZ: And I did get used to it. But I loved the changes, because Bingley is a bit of a dork in this and he's always been this, sort of like, upstanding, nice guy.

DAVID STRATTON: Yes.

MARGARET POMERANZ: I just liked the tweaks that they have made to it, that made it very, very accessible and real, somehow.

DAVID STRATTON: I think it's a fine adaptation. Brenda Blethyn is not my favorite actress, but she's really good in this. I think on just about every level it succeeds really well. I'm giving it four and a half.

MARGARET POMERANZ: Oh, I feel a bit mean only giving it four.

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This "Pride" does Austen Proud (USA Today) (Nov 2005)

 

This 'Pride' does Austen proud

By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Posted 11/10/2005 8:55 PM
Who would have guessed that the world needed another remake of Pride and Prejudice? Yet despite multiple previous incarnations and the cries of protest from diehard Colin Firth fans, this Pride & Prejudice is a stellar adaptation, bewitching the viewer completely and incandescently with an exquisite blend of emotion and wit.
 
18th-century romance: Keira Knightley stars as Lizzie, who disdains then desires Matthew McFadyen's Mr. Darcy.   18th-century romance: Keira Knightley stars as Lizzie, who disdains then desires Matthew McFadyen's Mr. Darcy.  
Focus Features

Though some threads of Jane Austen's intricate 1813 novel had to be excised to winnow the story down to a two-hour movie, director Joe Wright and screenwriter Deborah Moggach extract the essence of Austen's clever dialogue, fashioning a supremely entertaining saga of amorous adventures.

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