An out of the ordinary treat

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2005)

This is my first exposure to the story of Pride and Prejudice, so I can't comment on the movie's faithfulness to the novel or how it compares to previous film versions. I can only judge it as an individual film, and I found it to be a winner. It draws you into the setting (early 19th century England) and presents some interesting characters too. Focusing on a family with five unmarried sisters, it's about the rituals of courtship and marriage that involve a great deal of wit, calculation, suspense, and deviousness. Oh, and occasionally, some actual love and affection, provided that concerns about finances and reputation have been satisfied.
Keira Knightley plays Lizzie, the second eldest of the five daughters, and she plays her very well, making her tough, smart, and resourceful without any loss of feminine charm. Lizzie is still young enough to do some giggling under the covers with her sisters, but she can also hold her own in witty banter with elite gentlemen and ladies. That dialog is perhaps the chief asset of the film. Gratuitous insults were allowed in polite society, provided they were expressed in a calm voice with proper English. Watching language be used as a weapon can be very entertaining, and the fighting in this film is often quite fierce. The only problem with Knightley is that she is really too beautiful for the role. Lizzie is supposed to be attractive, but less so than her elder sister.
Without giving anything away, I have to say I found the ending to be rather unsatisfying. In a modern Hollywood story, people who try to use wealth to get what they want would be thoroughly frustrated while the beautiful girl ends up in the arms of an ordinary schlub with a heart of gold. Such an ending is impossible here, because there are no ordinary schlubs in the film at all. I watched this movie to see something outside of Hollywood's formula system, but I found out that I've become awfully conditioned by those formulas about the right way to end a movie.