Downright dreadful!

Rating: 1/10 (21 September 2006)

Having both read the novel and seen the excellent 1995 BBC mini-series I was completely taken aback.
Under most other circumstances I have thoroughly enjoyed the roles played by the cast members. However, in this instance I believe the casting to have been horribly misconceived.
Donald Sutherland was not Mr. Bennett, neither was Brenda Blethyn Mrs. Bennett, Matthew Macfadyen was a bad choice for Darcy and Keira Knightley certainly did not impress me as Lizzie! While I realise this was a two hour film and not a mini-series and therefore had to be trimmed of fat to fit the time, I do believe it was done in a rather haphazard manner with what appeared to be huge chunks of necessary material being removed and others just thrown back in randomly.
It would also have been far more effective to have left the imagery of Darcy seen at Pemberley by Lizzie's uncle and aunt as the portrait rather than a marble statue amidst similar, though nude reclining statues.
This addition seemed uniquely ridiculous in the extreme and very typically 'Hollywood'!