No resemblance to Jane Austen

Rating: 2/10 (7 February 2006)

This is Jane Austen Lite or Jane Austen for Dummies. The humour, the satire and sense of the absurd that are the essence of Jane Austen, the author, are completely missing. Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine and the others are never even mildly amusing. The 2005 film has turned P & P into a bodice ripper, with smoldering looks in abundance. Yecch! The 1940 P & P, even with all its faults (costumes not in the right period, etc.) was vastly superior and is STILL worth watching if only for the beautifully acted confrontation scene between Elizabeth Bennett and Lady Catherine, towards the end of the film. The 1996 British mini-series P & P although lengthy, at about 6 hours total, is the one that does the book justice, in my view.