I bet the BBC feel even more triumphant than ever!

Rating: 3/10 (28 October 2006)

I was really rather stunned after watching this film. An avid fan of the book and the 1995 BBC adaptation starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, I went along with an equally P&P mad friend and settled down for a treat. What we got was not the gently romantic comedy of manners we were expecting but bosom-heaving, rain-soaked 'damsel-on-the-moors'-style melodrama. Now I know the film-makers didn't have nearly six hours to play with (unlike the BBC) but, with a mega-budget and a shed load of talent, they had every other opportunity to create something masterful. Shame they failed.
Why oh why did Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy continually bump into each other on wild, rain-drenched moorland, a la Cathy and Heithcliff? This WOULD NEVER have happened and, even allowing for the need for cinema to be somewhat more melodramatic than TV, was unnecessary.
Why in the name of Jane Austen was poor Mr Bingley reduced to the status of buffoon? Did no one else hear his goofy laugh? (When I say goofy, I mean the actor actually did sound exactly like the floppy-eared cartoon character). I reckon the film makers must have thought more comedy value was needed when thy scripted this part.
Why did the Bennetts live on a farm? The hazy, golden sunshine that seemed to permanently drench the place reminded me of nothing so much as one of those Hallmark dramas... all wrong for this film.
Why was Keira Knightley chosen for the role? I like the actress but she played this part with too much pout and too many modern, cocky tilts of the head. Elizabeth was strong, independent and, for a woman of her time, outspoken but she also lived over 200 years ago; women simply didn't behave the way Knightley's Elizabeth did.
But the question that baffles me most is this: why in God's name was the dialogue so rushed, to the extent that you are in great danger of missing entire scenes if you blink for too long? I am at a loss; Emma Thompson managed to cram an Austen novel into just over two hours of film when she wrote the screenplay for the excellent Sense & Sensibility. What was wrong with the scriptwriters of this ridiculous charade of a film? But on two positive notes, Rosamund Pike was the best bit about this film, perfectly cast and actually upstaging the Susannah Harker role of the 1995 TV version (though she was the ONLY thing that was better about this film than the BBC adaptation). Secondly, if you haven't read the book or seen any of the TV adaptations then you'll have nothing to compare it to and may agree that it looks very lovely and has one or two touching and original scenes.
Overall, extremely disappointing.