Save Your Nine Bucks and Rent the Miniseries

Rating: 3/10 (13 November 2005)

I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was 11 years old and absolutely fell in love with its subtle humor and biting wit; not to mention the language and the carefully drawn characters. However, what I saw at the theaters presented no such picture. The dialogue was sloppy and unrefined, the characters poorly read (and cast), and the humor rather awkward. Having previously viewed the faithful 1995 Miniseries version of Pride and Prejudice, I was often distracted by the jarring gaps in the plot and its staggering underdevelopment. I've always enjoyed Keira Knightley's performances, but her acting felt rushed and, well, performed.
But the biggest annoyance of the film was the directing and cinematography of the shots. The director made overuse of long moving/panning shot which seemed completely out of place and made use of angles and framing that were unnecessarily peculiar in style.
It has not been one hour since I watched the movie in the theater, and I still can't help but shutter at the memory of it. Darcy was a joke, and by the end, the film dripped of repugnant cheese. I would have walked out of the movie had my shoe laces not entangled me to the seat.
Watch the 1995 Minseries people. Granted, it lacks pretty faces of the likes of Keira Knightley, Jena Malone, Matthew MacFayden, and Donald Sutherland and the overblown directorial style, but what it lacks in star power it makes up in acting ability and capable story telling. Although it's not completely lacking in the star attraction department; Colin Firth makes an incredible Mr. Darcy