Austin Movie Show review - the definitive love story

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2005)

Jane Austen's immortal love story is the template for every romantic comedy ever made. If Pride & Prejudice hadn't been written two hundred years ago, there would've been no Bridget Jones's Diary, no Love Actually, no My Big Fat Greek Wedding, certainly no Bridge & Prejudice, and maybe even no Wedding Crashers. Yes, it's the old story of boy meets girl, boy insults girl, girl hates boy, so boy falls madly in love with girl, and somehow girl's furious rage toward boy turns into passionate and everlasting love. But the only reason "the old story" even exists is because Jane Austen wrote it. Let's face it  neither Hugh Grant nor Colin Firth would have a career today if it weren't for this 19th century writer.
You know that the book's great, but you're reading this because you want to know how the Keira Knightly film version is. This Pride & Prejudice is fantastic! It may take place a couple centuries ago, but this movie is at its best when we see our chaotic and pathetic love lives reflected back to us. Mr. Darcy (played by the brooding but dreamy Matthew MacFadyen) is pompous, arrogant, and cruel when Lizzy Bennet (Knightly) first meets him at the ball. But as he gets to know her and falls in love with her, Mr. Darcy becomes more and more awkward, fumbling, and ridiculous towards Lizzy as the film progresses. And it's adorable! "We are all fools in love." The English countryside is breath taking, and the shots are stunning. Visually, the most impressive scene in entire movie is the ballroom scene that remains one continuous shot as it moves around the house, going from one character to the next, and one room to the next, but it's never broken. It's brilliant. Ultimately, if you love romantic comedies (and I do), then you will love Pride & Prejudice, as it is the definitive romantic comedy of them all.