Pride and Prejudice-Pardon My Bias **

Rating: 5/10 (20 January 2007)

Jane Austen's novel continues to be a bore when it's transferred to the screen. Despite the great 1940 cast of Greer Garson and Edna Mae Oliver, the film didn't exactly catch fire and the same is true for this 2005 remake.
Elizabeth is a highly intelligent girl. Her parents are played well by Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. The latter should be used if ever they make the life-story of Sara Allgood. She is in fine form as the doting mother who wants to see her daughters married off into wealth and happiness. Allgood? She ought to be the Irish answer to the Jewish mother.
Keira Knightley is beautiful and gives a restrained Oscar nominated performance as the eldest daughter. She meets up with Mr. Darcy, a brooding character, who is both angry and frustrated with life in general. His nature is to almost cause misery for the family until things are straightened out by explanation and he emerges as not such a bad Joe after all.
In her brief role as Darcy'd aunt, Dame Judi Dench nearly steals the picture with her vicious performance as a wealthy dowager, who looks down on the family and tries to prevent Elizabeth marrying Darcy. Dench has made quite a success in brief screen performances as she did in her supporting Oscar win for "Shakespeare in Love."
The cinematography and set decorations are elegant and quite in order for the period of history they represent.
The problem here is with the writing. We can't see all at once why Darcy is such a brooding character. His emergence as a person is also not adequately explained.