Not a patch on the miniseries

Rating: 4/10 (12 March 2006)

The characters in this adaptation seemed watered down versions of those in the miniseries. Both Matthew Mcfayden and Keira Knightly lacked the passion that Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle shared in the 1995 version. Jennifer Ehle had a sparkle in her eye and quiet passion that I missed in Keira Knightly's performance and where Colin Firth had a simmering, sexy reserve, Matthew Mcfayden just looked plain miserable. That there was not even a kiss between them made the whole affair a bit of an anticlimax too.
Another disappointment was Mr Collins, who acted very well but lacked the ingratiating flourishes and sheer repulsiveness of David Bamber's Collins. The general feeling of the film was dull and miserable as opposed to lively and exciting, the relationship between Kitty and Wickham also hurried and confused. Judi Dench was very good as Lady Catherine but the plot failed to allow Elizabeth to win her grudging respect in the end as she does in the miniseries.