Classic 1820s period piece with an ambitious mother seeking to marry off her five daughters. Jane Austen's absolute best.

Rating: 5/10 (9 March 2006)

This version will inevitably face comparisons with the 1995 BBC miniseries which was a complete delight. I don't mind seeing different interpretations of any classic. Shakespeare and Shaw, Ibsen and Chekov come alive on stage countless times and every new cast and director would bring a fresh view to a time honored story.
First the good. The casting worked.All of it. People say Keira Knightley was too beautiful to be Lizzie Bennett but in the period the film is set,the blonde, gentle and not too slender Rosamond Pike would definitely be the family beauty. Keira is a modern day stunner but in Jane Austen's time she would be considered too skinny, gawky and boyish to count. Darcy too fit the bill. It's unfair to compare him to Colin Firth who's made himself something of a legend in the role.
Now the not so good. It was a bit of a mess. Did the Bennett household have to look like a grubby barnyard? They were a genteel family and Mrs Bennett had upper class ambitions, so it didn't quite work to see her as a frumpy slattern. The youngest pair tended to overdo the shrieking and giggles. There didn't seem much difference between the maids and the ladies of the house. If they'd only costumed it and showcased it like Ang Lee's exquisite Sense and Sensibility this would have been a production to remember. And yes, we'd have liked the couples to kiss. Even Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle obliged all those years ago!