My Own Humble Opinion/Review

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2005)

So, I just saw this movie tonight. I must confess I have been waiting for it ever since I heard it was being made. I have come to truly admire Keira Knightly as an actress and was keenly interested in seeing what she would bring to the role of Lizzy Bennett. Also I was much concerned to see who could dare to step into the shoes Colin Firth so romantically filled 10 years ago. I was not disappointed.
After holding my breath for the first few minutes, terrified that Knightly's Lizzy might be a bit too "giggly," I soon relaxed and settled in to a refreshing interpretation of the classic story. Knightly provided the anticipated spark needed to truly bring Lizzy to life, while Matthew MacFadyen's brooding stares by no means fell short in affecting his own version of Mr. Darcy. A well-assembled supporting cast, including Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland, certainly aided the two in bringing the story to life.
As for the story itself, there are some things that are just a bit out of line, but nothing more serious than: some dialog switches (some characters saying what others said in the book), the complete absence of Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, some changes of scenery for some scenes (instead of the parlor, Mr. Darcy first proposes in the rain, for instance). Other than that, it stuck VERY close to the book. I was actually quite surprised.
My biggest complaint with the movie lies with the portrayals of Mr. Bennett and Mr. Collins, and mildly so with Charlotte Lucas. The character of Charlotte is not nearly as pragmatic as Austen wrote her to be, and this I found lacking.
Mr. Collins is not nearly as simpering with regards to the great Catherine de Bourg as I would have hoped, nor is he nearly as ridiculous in character as to warrant Lizzy's reaction when he proposes marriage.
I was most disappointed in the projection of Mr. Bennett. While I would by no means call him the "comic relief" of the novel, his general lack of gravity in the situations Mrs. Bennett gets so worked up over is a large part of what makes the family interaction so likable. Here, though, he is entirely too serious; even his attempts at sarcasm come across as worry. This, I feel, detracts from his relationship with Lizzy and deprives audiences who are new to the story of a vital element of lightheartedness.
The storyline itself was quite abridged, but then that's only to be expected. The BBC had the advantage of making a TV miniseries and could, therefore, put much more page-by-page material into the 1995 version. This one, however, had to fit Hollywood's 2.5 hours or less mantra, so it did run a little fast, but an audience member who had never been exposed to anything remotely "Pride and Prejudice" before could not get lost in the story despite the editing.
Overall, I feel it's definitely worth checking out. Keeping in mind that this review comes on the heels of having not only just re-read the book in anticipation of the movie, but also on having just seen the 1995 BBC version just yesterday.
KBD