as bad as most adaptations of Jane Austen novels

Rating: 1/10 (25 August 2007)

Most adaptations of Jane Austen novels are horrible, with the exception of Emma Thompson's awesome Sense and Sensibility, which perfectly captured the spirit of the book and most of the dialog, and of the fairly recent Persuasion, which also did a decent job. This version of P&P is as awful as the previous few (including the horrific version with Lawrence Olivier). The main characters were done terribly. For some reason, no actress can seem to understand that Elizabeth is PLAYFUL and TEASING; Keira Knightley, like others, turned her into a bitchy smart ass. I also found that puppet-like jaw of hers highly distracting throughout the movie. Darcy seemed more depressed than full of pride and confidence - he was lifeless (although I did enjoy the scene near the end of him walking toward Elizabeth across the fields). Bingley in the book is a fun-loving, genuine, happy-natured person; in the movie he is an unattractive and laughable half wit. Jane is supposed to be beautiful - I have yet to see a version of P&P where the actress portraying her is. Mr. Bennett has none of the sharp wit from the book and is mostly a marshmallow, and the Bennett marriage has been converted to basically happy. The enjoyable Mr. Collins was played too heavily and without humor. Like the recent horrible movie about Mansfield Park, this version of P&P has been moved forward in time - there is simply no way that young women of that time would have been subjected to the naked statues in Darcy's house and the racy paintings in Lady DeBourgh's. Completely ridiculous, and certainly not part of the book. I can never understand how Hollywood writers have the hubris to rewrite absolute classics like P&P. Do they truly think they can IMPROVE on Jane Austen? I wish Emma Thompson would write more adaptations of Austen's other novels, including this one. She alone seems to have a feel for the spirit of the books. I would be surprised to hear that most of the people involved in the film even read Pride and Prejudice.