Misses the satirical point

Rating: 3/10 (15 February 2008)

Watching the oh-so-British-television production from 1995 having just read the book was an exercise in frustrating artistic restraint. Everything is too-bright; gauzy pastels overburden the frame. And many of the performances suggest most of the cast was incapable of more than recitation of Austen's words. In other words, I didn't like it - though admittedly the leads are good. Well, then I saw this version.
This version is overwrought and underthought. High school students are taught that this story is supposed to be a satire. The filmmakers here, apparently, missed all of that. They read this is a terrifyingly grim psychological thriller and went overboard on the post-production re-touching to make it look more like "Lord of the Rings" and less like the countryside of England romanticized by Austen herself.
Sorry, I'm all for artistic license but this movie completely misses the nuance and humor of the original text, not to mention most if not of all of the emotional beats. It's a long book and honestly it should have been a long movie. Praise of the "Robert Altman" quality of the film is foolish - major moments of dialogue are spoken over not only by nearby inconsequential characters but also the shoddy music mix in the final cut.
And the camera work is subpar, at times resembling a TV-movie with it's showy zooms, long takes and lack of interesting angles. It's all shoulder-height perspectives and sun-drenched backlighting.
In the words of my high school English teachers and the l33t - FAIL.