Only the Small Screen Can Do It Real Justice

Rating: 4/10 (2 June 2006)

Though it is better than the previous film adaptation of the novel made in the 1950s, I think it is something of a challenge to do Austen well on the big screen. The only truly successful adaptation of an Austen novel was Emma Thompson's beautiful, faithful and very, very well done Sense and Sensibilty a decade ago. Still, considering Austen's novels were long and wordy we can't all expect such great adaptations.
Knightley is sprightly enough as Elizabeth Bennett but not as arch, charismatic or pretty as Elizabeth Bennett is supposed to be. Matthew MacFadyen also lacks the charm that was so crucial to Mr. Darcy's character. A lot of important things such as Elizabther's close relationship with her father Mr. Bennet, the love she had for her sister Jane and of course the potential love affair between herself and Mr. Wickham were not gone into in enough depth. Without the emphasis on the other relationships existing between the characters that Austen wrote so well her stories can get boring. Better explored in depth and dealt with on the television.
Brenda Blethyn was perfectly cast as the nervous Mrs. Bennett but - and this is the major but - why were the family so rural? It is true that they were not a wealthy or noble family but they were gentry, wealthier than the average middle-class family is today and they were represented as peasants. Even Mr. Darcy would not have married a peasant; they simply would not have had the occasion to meet.
At least it was better than the big screen version of Emma.