Men, be not afraid.

Rating: 10/10 (14 January 2009)

Every so often, a wife guilts her husband, or a girlfriend her guilts her boy into their choice for a film. If so, men, be not afraid. This film works for us. Here's how.
The first scary area is this world of is the author Jane Austin. Or, I mean her followers. They are as over the top in their unending devotion as J.R.R. Tolkien fans. "But she one of the great authors of the English language." Maybe, but her fans are true to that word. Fanatics. Hence, the much acclaimed 6 hour miniseries of 1995. But this movie is not that. It is a sensible 2 hours.
The first half hour can be painful, including the obligatory 'girls laughing in their corsets' scene before a ball. Uhggg. But things quickly change when Mr. Collins visits.
The first bit of good news is the wonderful direction of Joe Wright. Second is the great scoring of Dario Marianelli. The next is the casting.
For Collins is the fantastic character actor Tom Hollander. As an unwelcome guest, he brings to life Donald Sutherland and Keira Knightley. These are our family, the Bennetts. Knightley is Elizabeth Bennett, the main character, who shares a special bond with her father, Sutherland. Part of the bond is making fun of this guest. Check out the pointed direction.
Next comes a dance with Elizabeth and the legendary Mr. Darcy, played by MI6 man Matthew McFayden. His effectiveness in this role may be debated by the ladies, but men, relax. We can deal with him. Partially because at any moment we hope he will pull out a gun. Of course, that doesn't happen. But it could. Like when the Zombies come to eat the guests at the dance. OK, that doesn't happen. But I could just imagine it.
Scene after scene, what is PG material seems steaming and naughty. This is from Wright's take....Elizabeth Bennett is not the wise cracker of the book or miniseries, but intelligently outspoken and emotional. Her crisis seems to be her coming to terms with being at the crossroads of youth and a sexually mature woman. Needless to say, Knightley pulls this off stunningly.
Scenes of passion with McFayden seem more so. The scene of confrontation with Judi Dench and Knightley comes across like Dench is holding a gun on her. Maybe this isn't as true to Austin as the miniseries, but why would a man care? It is engaging. And enjoyable. And at times seems downright dirty. And we can imagine Knightley throwing Dench out of the house to be eaten by Zombies. Whoops! Sorry.
Also of great note is Bond girl Rosamund Pike. The novel deals with two couples. One is Elizabeth and Darcy. The other is her sister Jane and Charles Bingley. At several points of the movie, Jane's story goes front and center, and Pike has the ability to come from the background and take charge of a scene, while Knightley steps into the background. Pike and Knightley work well together. Especially when cornered in the house be the Zombies, and they have to bring out Mr. Bennett's arsonal to kill them off. Oh, sorry again.
In the end, you may actually enjoy this. A man can respect McFayden. A man will be engaged by Knightley. And this is one of few period pieces that can reach across that barrier that some schmucks call "Mars and Venus".