Excellent for a two-hour adaptation

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2005)

Being a great fan of the mid '90s BBC TV production of P&P (the one with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle), and having read the novel, I was a bit apprehensive about seeing this movie.
But I think it succeeded. The dialog was less faithful to Miss Austen than was that of the 90s TV production, but some of the longer sentences wouldn't have worked in a screen adaptation. Still, one of the short but key sentences from the original (and the BBC production) was missing in this movie: Lizzie, on seeing the great grounds of Pemberly (Mr Darcy's estate), and having adamantly refused his previous arrogant marriage offer, had perhaps ruefully said: "And of all of this I could have been mistress."
I thought the cinematography and art direction was brilliant. The direction less so (too many lingering shots of Lizzie being moody).