The Best Pride and Prejudice Ever

Rating: 10/10 (25 December 2005)

Having seen every version of the Jane Austen classic, I say this is by far the best. Much of the credit goes to Keira Knightley, who, in addition to being the prettiest young woman in the movies today, is also a marvelous actress. (She may be prettier than Elizabeth is intended to be, but who can complain about that?) Keira is on screen almost constantly, and she runs through the full range of emotions in her dealings with her silly mother (Brenda Blythen), her gruff but loving father (Donald Sutherland), her sisters, the self-satisfied fool of a clergyman who seeks her hand in marriage (Tom Hollander), the terrible Lady de Bourg (Judi Dench) and, of course, with the prideful Darcy whom she eventually comes to love (Matthew MacFayden). Every one of these roles in perfectly cast and brilliantly performed. MacFayden is a new face to me but he is certainly a future star, and he is the complete Darcy: prideful, incapable of small talk, a loyal and generous friend, ultimately desperate to be loved by Elizabeth. The director, Joe Wright, gives it the Merchant-Ivory touch, gorgeous color, magnificent buildings, utterly faithful to the tone of the book. Doubtless this film is too small and uncommercial to win all the prizes it deserves but here's hoping that Keira Knightley is honored for the best starring performance of 2005. Her talent equals her looks, and that's saying quite a lot. Pride and Prejudice is a great book, and it is fully realized here for the very first time.