Jane Austen would surely be disappointed....

Rating: 5/10 (30 December 2010)

Jane Austen set her stories in a time in which certain rules and conventions were in place during 19th Century England. This is why stories such as Pride and Prejudice are so interesting because you get to see how much time has changed, how societal values and expectations have altered and how we can also compare these values with those of Austen's time.
What this version of Pride and Prejudice does is pretty much aim this to a new generation, neglect a lot of the customs of Austen's time and change things to suit a new audience. Something like this cannot be done when the story is also a study of the times of that period.
For starters, there were several things that annoyed me.
1. When Lizzy is talking to Mr Wickham by herself, she isn't meant to be by herself! The whole town would be talking of that and it was not appropriate for ladies to be seen along with a man, and also she wasn't wearing a hat or anything which was customary.
2. When Mr Darcy's sister meets Elizabeth, she was acting more like a thirteen silly teenager modern girl than someone who was meant to be shy and obviously brought up with the right manners of that time. There is no way, I was thinking that Georgiana Darcy would ever act like that in front of a stranger.
3. A lot of the plot line felt it was going fast forward. I felt that they didn't really capture the essence of the plot, and were in a rush to get as much out of the way in order to get all the plot elements into it in the running time. This is the problem with adapting a novel such as P & P into a movie, because the little details count just as much as the big ones.
********Ending Spoilter*********** 4. The ending was extremely unsatisfying, considering they could have at least put a wedding in it, instead of Elizabeth going to her father and getting his approval. I mean, OK I get that the story isn't about the wedding, and is about Darcy and Elizabeth learning about each other and first impressions etc, but at least give the audience what they would want if you are going to neglect a lot of other things in the movie! I felt that the actors were all going through the motions, simply spitting out their lines with no real feeling. It no way captures the essence that the BBC series managed to do so well, but I will give credit to the filmmakers of this version considering they had less time and a lot to squash in.
Lydia's character was so overdone you just wanted to slap her on the face and tell her to shut up. Yes I know she is young and wild, but it was almost like she was on some sort of drug, and you just can't stand her presence.
Despite these flaws, there are good points. The production design was quite good, the costumes, scenery and look of the film fits the time of the story. Keira Knightley is good but doesn't hold a candle to Jennifer Ehle. There was a certain lack of sophistication in her performance and because she looks so young, and I know the character is only about 22, there was just something off about it. I guess I am being biased since I love the BBC version, but if you compare this to Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility, you see how you can make a really great adaptation of a classic novel.
Give this a miss. For those wanting the true essence of P & P and how Austen would have liked it, then I highly highly recommend the BBC version. Characters are much more developed, they stick true to the novel and they don't try to modernise it.