Pretty good, not great ... and not the BBC

Rating: 6/10 (11 November 2005)

I do not believe there is only one way to play a character. But it's hard not to view the movie, as I did less than two hours ago, and not think "not as good as the BBC" or "better than the BBC." I am a junkie, and I own the 1995 BBC and early 1980s BBC version, and I have watched them with online versions of the book on the computer at the same time.
The BBC was much better. How can you expect to do in 2 hours what was well-done in 5? Let's look at a few of the things that get lost in a 2-hour version:
1. Elizabeth's cleverness 2. Mr. Bennett's detachment 3. Wickham and Elizabeth's strong attachment to him (initially) 4. Mr. Bennett's favoritism toward Elizabeth, which makes his siding with her on Mr. Collins more believable
But let's look on its own merits, with the unavoidable comparisons that help bring out what might have been.
I did not like Bingley at all. He is ridiculous and comes off like a dimwit. It's hard to believe that Darcy would be his friend at all and certainly not his best friend. And hard to see what Jane sees in him other than a meal ticket, which is not how she is supposed to see him (although I believe the role of duty to family gets underplayed in all versions). The BBC Bingley was excellent -- so good-natured he would be impossible not to be liked by other men and attractive to many women. And while he leaned a bit on Darcy's opinion, you still see he is his own man right from the start.
Macfayden's Darcy is passable, but he never really lightens up or has much time to. For many, Colin Firth will always be Darcy and rightfully so. He starts out snobby, but we see flashed of smiles and playfulness that grow through the series. You can see why he grows on Elizabeth, although we should not forget that while Elizabeth is romantic, but not stupid. The spectacular Pemberley does a fair amount of the seduction too. They say it's as easy to fall in love with a rich man that it is with a poor one, but certainly it is much easier.
Speaking of "no one who could tempt me," who are we kidding? Knightley is gorgeous -- you'd be tempted to sell your soul. The portrayal was interesting -- more giggly and girlish, which may be appropriate for a 20 year old in a house of silly girls and mother. All in all, I thought it was a good job, and deficiencies of comparison are mostly due to the lack of time to develop themes. I'll still take Jennifer Ehle's portrayal, but she had a big advantage of time -- Knightley has little time to show her cleverness. Note that in the book, Darcy makes clear at the end that it is her liveliness of mind, more than her impertinence, that attracts him to her.
Because of the run time of the movie, we do not get to see her depth of dislike for Darcy, her attachment to Wickham which causes more dislike, and a confidence in he decision to refuse Darcy, even though she has clearly failed in her duty to her family. In a longer version, she is more confident in what she has done, and has time to change her opinion. In this film, she seems to have doubts about her own decision, except for her dislike over the matter of Jane.
Jane is lovely too. I did not find the BBC Jane was not all that attractive by comparison to Lizzie, making the difference less credible. Here, too, Knightley as the less attractive, unable to tempt one? Only if you very strong lean to blonde women ... and then only maybe. Unfortunately, the film does not have time to develop Jane's naive sweetness as the BBC did.
The scenes of the home are much different from any seen before in showing a little more rustic, and almost subsistence farming. The home is shabby and run down. Animals are all about the house. Seemed a little over the top, but a refreshing and interesting change from the usual sanitary conditions. I'd have to leave this one to the true historians.
While the mother is a little too rough in appearance for a gentleman's wife, she is not so over-the-top as the portrayal in the 1995 BBC, which was quite unfortunate. Also, the 1995 BBC Mr. Collins was way over the top. In some ways, I think the early 1980s BBC version of Collins was best. The 1995 BBC was too over-the-top -- the character is ridiculous enough without having to beat you over the head repeatedly.
I was disappointed on Sutherland. He looked less clean cut and probably more accurate in that sense,. we do not see or feel his detachment, his lack of respect for his wife, and his favoritism for Elizabeth, which allows him to side with her on Mr. Collins and to authorize her to turn down Darcy's proposal. The BBC 95 version is excellent -- respectable, likable, but perhaps too detached and dismissive.
While this has been more negative than positive, there are things to like, and on the whole I believe this is worth seeing:
scenery -- especially house and ball scenes
cinematography -- the moving through the room and moving between conversations (a la West Wing) was a nice piece of work
Knightley's younger portrayal -- not necessarily better, but different and interesting
I plan to see it again.