Very Nicely Done

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2007)

This was a rich, passionate take on a very old story, and Keira Knightley is a revelation as one of literature's first romantic heroines. Frankly, before this performance, I was not really sure whether she could act or not. It is hard to tell when an actress is starring across from a giant CGI octopus. But her range and subtlety as Lizzy in this movie bodes very well for her post-pirate chick future. There is still a bit of an anachronistic tomboy element to her performance, but it never reaches anything approaching the silliness of her characters in the various Bruckheimer blockbusters she has appeared in, and instead adds a flavor all her own to this Lizzy. And her liveliness and the arch nature of the character are nicely set off here by her ability to project a certain sweet vulnerability that helps her claim the movie and make you very much root for this well known character all over again.
I fully understand the contingent complaining that this was not a "pure" adaptation of Jane Austin's P&P -- I in fact would agree with that. But the question would be does that fact somehow make this a bad movie, or even a bad adaptation? And the answer is emphatically no. Characters and story lines have to be abbreviated to make it into a feature film, but save perhaps one more scene that they really could have used to delve further into the Wickham character, the trimming does not hurt the core romance of the story, but rather focuses attention upon it. Nice supporting turns add humanity and humor to characters such as Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins, and upon a re-viewing, even Donald Sutherland did well with a lot of subtleties I missed in the first viewing. (I could, however, have done without the excessive squealing and bouncing around of the younger sisters). Most importantly the two leads, after a slow start, develop a palpable chemistry as the film picks up pace.
And pick up pace it does -- this is P & P infused with dark romantic imagery, great period music, and some wonderful cinematography. Rather than a series of stage appearances, we get a passionate and highly entertaining labor of love, where the writer/director wisely decide to take their time and spend their precious minutes conveying emotion and energy rather than forcing in one more line or one more character which could leave little impact. It may not have the social nuance, and only sporadically achieves the comic flair, of Austen's book, but Jane's story never looked so good or felt so powerful before.