Embeth Davidtz and Jonny Lee Miller co-star. While otherwise a mish-mash of American, British and Australian actors, the film does boast the presence of playwright Harold Pinter in a key role. Otherwise, this retelling of Austen's story suffers from Rozema's own stylistic tricks and from a pace that can best be described as deliberate. It has the look of a movie that somehow wants to meld modern storytelling techniques with Austen's obviously more indirect approach. Fanny's mother has too many children and sends Fanny to live with these distant relations, who treat Fanny like a cross between a pet and a servant.
Fanny arrives as a preadolescent.
Sir Thomas' family is something of a genetic cesspool. Swells from London, they are too good to be true, of course. Even as Sir Thomas' daughters maneuver to get next to Henry, Mary is scheming to win Edmund's attention away from his Bible studies. The Bertrams believe the Crawfords are rich and glamorous. The Crawfords, meanwhile, are broke and want the Bertram connection for the money.